Add Wild Rice!  Sometimes Beautiful Things Happen!

Several days ago I was making some bread using Sturdiwheat baguette mix. Oh my, these baguettes are SO good! And easy. I had some leftover cooked wild rice and I added a cup of cooked wild rice when I mixed the bread. Let it rise overnight (as in the instructions) and Poof! This bread, in addition to being a great baguette is also versatile. Don’t pass up this simple mix at Sturdiwheat.com.

Look what happened. The aroma of fresh bread. Great flavor – and there is no doubt about how it looks!

The texture was wonderful! Soft and chewy. A sturdy crust beautifully browned. I put a small pan of HOT water in the oven (be sure there is enough water to last the entire baking time) on the lower shelf when the pre-heat was started, and sprayed the bread with water when it went in the oven. Spray the bread with water twice more while it is baking. It helps make that perfect crust we all love. Also – let the bread rise for a while after shaping it into loaves. And bake for 30 minutes (this is longer than the instructions on the package, but it is a wider loaf than the baguette instructions) and it makes for a crusty, dense, delicious loaf. You will be SO proud to serve this.

The one caution I would give you is this: You might not be able to resist eating ALL of it when it comes out of the oven!

It is so easy to enjoy Sturdiwheat just as it comes to you from www.sturdiwheat.com. Simply add water. – - – - Go ahead – get creative. Enjoy both the wonderful bread and the loads of compliments!

Let’s join with the French this week in the celebration of Bastille Day! And why not do it with enjoyment of some French Food! Check here on The Grain Bin this week for treats from across the Atlantic. Make Bastille a week of French Food.

Why not start your week with a simple but delicious summer combination. Fruit, Cheese, and Baguette Tray. With a nice glass of wine. Don’t make it complicated. Choose some fruit that is easy to eat. Cherries, grapes, melon and/or strawberries. These are so easy to wash/clean and put out on your tray. Add some cheese. Choose a soft cheese like Brie, a hard sharp cheese like Cheddar or Gruyere, and a pungent blue or gorgonzola. Leave them in large pieces with implements for guests or cut them up as you want. Some picks might be supplied for eating.

For the wine, please make it a favorite of yours. If there are enough guests, you may want more than one variety. If the gathering is more intimate, choose a favorite and go with that.

And finally – That wonderful French Baguette. Baked in your own oven. It’s available from Sturdiwheat and is as easy as the rest of this simple service. You can’t do better than this bread for your guests. And it is so easy to make. As with most Sturdiwheat products.  Just add water.  You will be an artisan baker with everyone enjoying this very special treat without having to travel to France. You might have guests just tear off pieces of the bread, or you could slice it in diagonal pieces to be enjoyed with the fruit and cheese. You might put out some unsalted butter for those who desire it. Your choice.

You can form these loaves so easily and bake them just before serving. Or you can bake it early and serve at room temperature. But think about it – that smell of fresh bread in the oven for your guests. What an added indulgence!

Enjoy the tray – Sip a favorite wine – and savor this warm, delicious baguette. It makes me hungry!

www.sturdiwheat.com

Good Morning, Hot Cakes!

At the cabin – For a week we concentrated on nature, walking, fixing, building, cutting firewood, and eating.  Please don’t misunderstand.  Perhaps eating should not be last on the list because it was surely always on our minds.  On this day our dinner was Salmon grilled and smoked over a wood fire, Pasta with uncooked fresh tomato sauce, wood-fire grilled asparagus, and that great Sturdiwheat Focaccia Snack Bread.  Interestingly, EVERY day the question was asked “Are we having bread?”  They wanted to be sure that the cook/baker did not forget to include the Sturdiwheat.

They had, of course, become acquainted and had acquired a taste (or a slight addiction) for Sturdiwheat, whethere it was a Sturdiwheat Baguette, Sturdiwheat Pancakes, Sturdiwheat Limpa Rye, or this wonderful Italian Snack Bread mix.  Actually we made this in two pans.  Had one pan that evening, and the other warmed so beautifully in the oven the next evening for snacks!  Sturdiwheat, thank you!

And it was easy to accommodate!  Sturdiwheat is so easy to prepare.  But in addition it is simply and wonderfully delicious.  You couldn’t ask for a better friend in the kitchen or at the cabin.

Of course one day I was required to make “Mabel’s Buns” – which would be my mother’s famous (in our family) buns and caramel rolls.  Other than this requirement, we depended on Sturdiwheat.

This morning’s temperature was cool. So some warm hot chocolate hit the spot. And then I couldn’t resist making some bread. Don’t you love the smell of bread baking? It fills the house with that warm feeling and aroma. It just may warm the heart too. The smell elicits definite images of fresh bread even before it is done baking. The taste and smell invades your senses as you imagine enjoying the flavor. And that’s just what the smell does. Just wait for the taste!

Long process to make it? No! Sturdiwheat! It was in the pantry. Baguettes today. Opened the bag. Added the water. Kneaded the dough (THIS is one of the reasons I wanted to make the bread.) Later I formed the loaves and put it in the oven according to the simple instructions.

And now that smell has permeated the entire house. So easy. So healthy. So delicious.

I won’t be able to wait for lunch. I will be having some bread in a few moments. With just a touch of some marmalade. Wish you could join me. (I will be having more bread for lunch.)

These bread mixes are incredible. And nutritious. Check them out. You are in for a treat.

I never thought that I would be accused of being a Sunday Driver. Of course that was in some younger years. Oh well. But hey! It’s great to saunter along in the car taking in all of the beauty that nature has to offer. Stop along the way and see the budding trees. The flowers emerging from the soil. The birds darting from here to there heralding the awakening with their songs of spring. There is so much to see and enjoy. And there are no deadlines today. I’m really can’t apologize for taking my time. This journey from Red Wing, MN to Nelson, WI along the Mississippi River via the Great River Road is worth taking one’s time.

I wonder. Why are there no cars ahead of me? Do those cars behind me think that I should be going faster? Pull over? Go home? Perhaps they do. But it’s not time to go home yet. But pull over? That is a good suggestion. Because there is a host of things to see at this wayside rest. Wonders to enjoy.

And lunch. We did prepare. Sandwiches on that great Sturdiwheat bread. A bit of fruit. Crisp carrots. A glass of wine. Of course the guests of honor are the ants. They are eager about spring too.

This warm spring sunshine shining on our faces as we enjoy the homemade Deli sandwich on Sturdiwheat Dark Caraway Rye bread helps make this day. Oh – - we made the bread. From those wonderful Sturdiwheat bread mixes. And the bonus of the aroma of fresh baking bread is well worth it. Can you do it? I surely think so. Just add water! That’s it! Well, you need to bake it too. www.sturdiwheat.com You will find it there!

Celebrate Spring! It is the season of new life. Smell the freshly baked bread. And enjoy a picnic along the way.