It’s hard for me to convey in words how happy and contented a large bag of bakers (bread) flour makes me. To me, it’s like having money in the kitchen bank – no matter what happens, I know that, at a bare minimum, we’ll have bread to eat.
One of the greatest influences on my adult cooking life was this description of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s first kitchen in These Happy Golden Years…
Beneath this shelf were many drawers of different sizes. Directly below the spices, and above the window shelf, were two rather narrow drawers. Laura found that one was almost full of white sugar, the other full of brown sugar. How handy!
Next, a deep drawer was full of flour, and smaller ones held graham flour and corn meal. You could stand at the window shelf and mix up anything, without stirring a step. Outside the window was the great, blue sky, and the leafy little trees.
Oh, how desperately I wanted this when I was twelve years old! My mother was (and still is) a wonderful cook, but she never baked. As I’ve mentioned before, she used to store her excess crockery in the oven. The Little House books made life sound very hard, yet so honest and self-reliant, that I wanted it all – I wanted to build whatnot shelves, and twist hay into sticks for the fire, and make maple candy.
More than thirty years on, I feel like we’ve achieved this to some small extent. I can, indeed, stand at my kitchen bench and mix up anything, without stirring too many steps. And this huge sack of flour, which cost just $25, will keep my family, friends and neighbours in bread for a couple of months. To give you some idea of how far the bag will stretch, 25kg of flour is enough to bake…
…twenty giant 90cm slabs of sourdough focaccia…
…or a hundred yeasted pane de casa loaves..
…or seventy-five loaves of faux brioche…
…or thirty-five large white sandwich loaves, either yeasted or sourdough…
…or fifty rich and luscious lardy cakes…
What food dreams did you have when you were a child?
My father, who grew up during the war, told me that when he was young, all he wanted from life was to sit at the movies and eat an endless supply of chocolates from a box.
Pete’s family had goats when he was a child, and as a result he won’t go near their meat or byproducts (not out of sentimentality, but because he can’t stand the taste or smell). I on the other hand longed to be like Heidi in the Alps, drinking fresh goats’ milk and eating bread covered in melted cheese.
What were the childhood influences that shaped your cooking and eating?
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
When I was a child I dreamed of an eternal supply of fresh strawberries ( they were scarce and very expensive!), and chocolates of every kind, and desserts covered with whipped cream and chocolate!
My mother wasn´t a big fan of cooking.
So we ate lots of meat ( our national food!) and a few salads…..Desserts were very rare at home. We eat fresh fruits like apples, tangerines and bananas.
Now I love to cook all sorts of desserts, baking bread, cookies and pastry ….and eating them too!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ale, strawberries are still expensive here, but not as much as other berries like raspberries and blueberries. What sweet dreams you had – and how nice that you can now bake them and eat them! :D
I loved reading the whole series of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books! I still have most of them. I often thought I would have loved to have lived in that time. I have tried to make some similar recipes that she mentions in her books. Heidi was (and still is) a favorite of mine. I envied her care-free days on the Alps!
A bag of flour can go a long ways!
Manuela, sounds like we grew up reading the same books! :)
Hi Celia, when I was a kid the most luscious thing I could imagine was my mum’s strawberry chiffon pie. Have fun baking.
Thanks Glenda! Strawberry chiffon pie – even the words sound luscious! :)
I’m with Pete on the goat thing. I can’t stand goats’ cheese. To me there is always that goats’ piss tang. I have tried lots of different types, but I just can’t stand it.
My cooking influences were my Aunty Shirley who cooked with a minimum of fuss and our neighbour Nancy, who gave the most wonderful parties. She would let me look before her guests arrived to see how she had decorated the table and see what she had cooked. She was also my travel inspiration, thank you Nancy.
Good on Nancy, because we all now benefit from sharing in your travels too, Deb! :)
When I was a kid I was fascinated by making all kinds of candy, peppermints, fudge, thin mints, caramels, lollipops. My experiments never really turned out (mostly because I didn’t understand how sugar crystals work) Part of this came from reading the Little House books and Charlie and the Chocolate factory, and part was from watching the candy makers at Disneyland on Main Street. They made it look so easy. Hugs, Maz.
Maz, candymaking is actually such a technical skill, isn’t it! I remember making toffees that wouldn’t set as a teenager – my one and only childhood attempt! :)
Believe it or not, I actually wanted to go to boarding school as a child – I loved the idea of being sent tuck boxes from home and having midnight feasts from the contents (not that I would have got much from home, but I would have fascinating friends who did!). I think this idea might have come from the ‘Katy’ series of books (What Katy Did etc), but my memory of those times isn’t good. It might have been Billy Bunter! :)
I went to boarding school and did turn up at the start of the year with a filled tuck box which was brilliant. And yes, midnight feasts were as good as you’d imagine. – also I think the bit you’re remembering was in the second What Katy Did book when they were sent that whole trunk of Christmas baking and shared it amongst everyone, even Miss Jane. Fabulous scene. Need to hunt those books down too!
When Pete moved into college, his mum sent him with one of her boiled fruit cakes in a tin. I can still remember how much he treasured that, and how we would all sit in his room and eat slices of it at odd hours. That’s the closest I’ve ever come to midnight snacking! :)
The lardy cake is calling me…
“Norrmmmaa…baaake meee..” :D
Ah! Celia! I was *just* thinking about this- for my birthday, I asked Johan to bring me a giant industrial size bag of flour from the restaurant. He looked at me like I was a total weirdo (quite possibly true) but I can relate to you a million times over. My true happiness is baking and feeding others :) As far as childhood memories, I have a ton with regards to food. But I think the one that stands out the most was my grandmother’s electric skillet. She used to plug it in outside on her deck, and cook her famous braised chicken with red wine & mushrooms. When we came over for Sunday dinner, you could smell it all the way from the top of the street! I’ve inherited this skillet and I love cooking with it to this day. xx
Hi there, I relate to your happiness about baking and feeding others. I too like to lavish love on my guests with a tasty, balanced, well presented meal brought to a table set in the traditional way with all the trimmings. A sort of mutual petting that is socially acceptable – they’re happy and I glow with the praise. How good is that?
Em, how FABULOUS that you inherited the skillet!! And I hope Johan DID bring you a giant bag of flour – surely he knows all the good things that will come out of it? :)
Celia, this might come as a huge surprise to you, but when I was a child I dreamed of a day in which I could eat by taking a pill or something, just like I thought astronauts would do – sitting down to eat a meal was an ordeal for me, I ate very little, and was super picky. My Mom made me stay at the table until I finished my food, which never really happened, so meals were times of fight and power struggles. I did not look forward to lunch or dinner.
Amazing how a person can change! ;-)
Sally, how you’ve changed! But you’re still tiny, so I’m sure you’re still not a big eater! :) And being picky has meant that you now produce the most amazing food! :)
awesome thanks for sharing
Thanks Linda!
my pleasure I think I got my mojo back got a lovely loaf proving lets just hope it cooks last one was still dough on the inside but cooked on the outside what did I do wrong ?
Linda, your oven might be too hot, so the outside is cooking before the inside is ready? Or it might not be rising enough in the oven – might need more yeast, or more active sourdough starter?
Many thanks for that I see what happen s with this third one I take a before and after photo have a Blessed day Celia
What a great inspiration, beautifully told. I have a memory of me aged about 8 playing grown-ups on my grandparents’ farmhouse verandah. I was pretending to be a model! which I have done non-professionally from time to time, and a typist… I have spent my entire adult life pretty much working at a keyboard. My dream however is to cook and eat much like my grandparents did – direct from the source. I’m getting there. Another milestone yesterday, I made stock from a chicken carcass and a few veges :)
I love that at 8 you were pretending to be a model AND a typist! :D Stock sounds fabulous – did you make it from a raw chicken carcass, or the leftovers from a roast? I always think I should use roast leftovers, but there’s none of that elegant carving going on at our house – the chook gets torn apart and the bones get chomped on! :)
Leftover roast. It was a Thirlmere. 1.85 kg. Every time I cook one I reckon they have more meat than any other chook. We ate it for Saturday dinner – the gravy was amazing – Sunday lunch on a roll, and the G.O. will get 3 days lunches, plus the stock :)
ED, you’ve really got your money’s worth there! Love a Thirlmere chook, but we have to get to Eveleigh to buy them, so I haven’t had any for a while. We now buy the Burrawong Gaian ones (thanks again for the pointer there) for special occasions and try to get Bannockburn chooks for other times. Bet your roasted chook stock was amazing! Maybe next time I roast, I’ll try getting the meat off the bones before the wolves get to them.. :)
My mum was (is) a fabulous cook and baker so we always ate well despite having very little money. I am just happy to continue the tradition – without the need to overfeed everyone who comes into my house! (I am seriously envious of that massive bag of flour…)
Lucky you, Kim! And a giant bag of flour is like having a fabric stash – it holds enormous promise.. :)
A wonderful post Celia and pictures to drool over! As a kid I always wanted to make pulled taffy and churn ice cream in a salted ice bath ( I can’t remember the books though). I also wanted to be in the Famous Five and tuck sausage rolls and a stick of chocolate in my pocket and go off on an adventure.
Jo, I think the pulled taffy and churned ice cream might have been in the Little House books. And yes, there was something very English and Enid Blyton about going off on adventures with a bit of food in your pocket, wasn’t there? Not that my folks were going to let me go off and explore in the woods or anything.. :)
Hi Celia, I grew up in a community where baking and preserving from the garden was just what everyone did. The CWA competitions were serious events and winning a ribbon for cakes or preserves at the Royal Show was what many women aimed at. The upside for a kid was that I learnt to bake from experts and got to eat all the reject cakes!
Meg, how wonderful to grow up in a community where those skills were valued and encouraged!
I still love those books! In Spain I can buy big bags of flour from the local baker (who thinks I’m completely bonkers for wanting to bake my own bread when he can deliver a loaf to my doorstep every morning!) but I’m struggling in my little seaside town to find someone who can supply me. I need to look harder as I’m sick of 1.5kg bags from the supermarket :(
Chica, your comment made me laugh – I can just see the baker thinking, “why on earth would she go to all that trouble when I can deliver my beautiful bread?” :D 1.5kg bags don’t go very far, do they? Hope you find a source soon.
A magical post that stirred up lots of memories, thank you. Mum didn’t keep her crockery in the oven but it probably would have been a better use for it than all those dreadful cakes she made every Saturday (baking day), enough for a whole week of school lunches for us and Dad’s lunch too. Not only were they dreadful but stale too by the end of the week. LOL. Amazing my sister and I both love to cook! I’m continually astonished by the cost of a store bought loaf of pane di casa or any good loaf for that matter. We collect our bags of flour from a wholesaler near the Manildra Mill in Nowra our nearest “big” town. Huge savings making our own daily loaf, specially important to us as pensioners. We studied “Heidi” at school, I loved that story. I still have my copy (bought 1958) and every time I eat bread and melted cheese I think of her and her grandfather.
Sandy, that’s too funny – I’m sure your mum was doing her best, but poor you and your family having to eat her cakes! :) Manildra really do make wonderful flour – we alternate between buying the 25kg Ben Furney flour and the 12.5kg bags from Manildra, which cost just $10 at Costco!
Like you Celia, opening a new bag of flour makes me happy. I like Wallaby Brand flour for my pizze, foccaccie and ciabbate, but am yet to move onto proper bread making. when I do, I know I have you as a guide, in language that I can follow.
Fran, I think focaccias and ciabattas ARE proper bread making! :)
An IMK post finally done. Thanks Celia
http://almostitalian.wordpress.com/2014/05/05/in-my-kitchen-may-2014/
I did always love the idea of freshly baked bread. I always assumed that it was difficult because not many people made it themselves. How wrong I was! My 25kg bag has almost run out. Time to restock!
Claire, like you, I always assumed it was too hard, or that it would make a huge mess in the kitchen. I still remember how excited I was the first time I made a dough in a large mixing bowl – the realisation that I didn’t have to pour flour all over the bench like Jamie did was literally life changing! We’ve been baking our own bread ever since! :)
i adore this post celia..it goes straight to my heart..when i was really young my grandmother would let me set up my own kitchen in her garden..i can remember how patient she was with me as i returned over and over again to ask for things i wanted to add to it..the bones of my kitchen was an old wooden rocker turned on its side and she even bought me an old fryer because i wanted to make potato crisps in my kitchen..she supervised the making of those very closely of course..x
Jane, it sounds like you had the best grandmother ever! I don’t know of anyone else who would teach their granddaughter how to deep fry chips! :)
My In My Kitchen post done! I keep referring to it as my MKR post, not my IMK post. Too much tv.
Cheers
Fran
Sent from my iPhone
>
Thanks Fran!
I was an avid reader as a child and I was inspired more to eat than cook, starry grazy pie, simmel cake, croissant, what were these dishes? I still love to try the food of different cultures to mine and nowdays to cook it. Both my mother and grandmother were wonderful cooks and although I eat little meat now I wish I could cook cornbeef and mustard sauce like they did.
Madge, like you, we love to explore different food cultures. Our latest are Vietnamese and Mexican! I’ve never made corned beef – Pete isn’t a fan – but I’ve eaten a couple of fabulous homecooked versions at friends’ houses!
A gorgeous post, Celia, from beginning to end. Like you, I was a fan of Heidi and dreamed of fresh mountain air and fresh milk… oh, and The Silver Skates, I’m sure there was mention of hot roasted chestnuts in that book. I thought how deliciously warming they would be on a snowy day. It makes my heart sing to read that a bag of flour can make you so happy… for it is the simple things that brings us such joy!
The Silver Skates! I’d completely forgotten about that book, Liz! I had hot roasted chestnut dreams as well, which my sister and I realised when we were teenagers on the cobbled, snow covered streets of Lucerne. Ah, the memories there.. :)
Like Liz and you Celia, I always remember the foodie parts of books. Laura’s first kitchen, Ma making sourdough for the unexpected visitors in The Long Winter , Marilla’s cakes in Anne of Green Gables, the fresh milk and goat’s cheese in Heidi, even Scarlett scraping the radishes out of the soil in Gone with the wind.
Rose, I’d completely forgotten about the sourdough in The Long Winter – I’m going to have to drag our my copy and have a reread! :)
That’s an enormous bag of flour for the price and how lucky your family and neighbours are that you are a baker! I didn’t know your mother wasn’t a baker and that she used the oven as a cupboard! That’s hysterical! I think my mother used her oven every single day. xx
Charlie, the bag certainly goes a long way! My mum’s oven is still brand new, even though it’s thirty years old! :)
I loved that description of her pantry too – and the story of her father eating the Christmas candy when he was stuck in a snowstorm on the way home (By The Shores of Plum Creek ?). Glorious books. And lashings of ginger beer in the Famous Five. And the afternoon tea description in The Little White Horse. Worth searching for just for that scene. In fact think I’m going to order the Little House series for my 6 yr old. Thanks for the memories. Also, when living in Jordan we were thrilled to get to Jerusalem where they actually sold apples. I still remember that first bite. Glorious.
Claire, yes, Pa had to eat the Christmas candy, even though he was close to home but couldn’t see it in the snowstorm. The things that stay in our brains! I never read Little White Horse, I’ll check it out! :)
I can still smell the huge loaves of fresh bread in my grandmother’s kitchen. That memory is more than 60 years old. Now I have withdrawal if I don’t bake at least once a week. I even take my starter on holidays so we can have fresh bread or pancakes if we’re camping.
Liz, taking your starter camping – that’s dedication! :)
I wasn’t raised with bakers or even very exceptional cooks, but I think one of my biggest influences was my grandparents’ beautiful vegetable garden. I was raised with a huge appreciation for fresh food prepared very simply. I must admit I read the same Laura Ingalls Wilder books…and didn’t come away with the same desires as you so beautifully outlined. I do admire your beautiful breads!
Thank you! It must have been lovely to be raised on fresh produce, lovingly grown!
I know exactly how you feel Celia- I’d rather a well stocked pantry and larder than a well stocked jewelry box any day!
I adored the Little House books too, learning how to make cheese, brawn and sausage and red eye gravy. The descriptions are so clear and well written that I can almost taste them xox
Becca, the food in Farmer Boy was amazing – it seemed that all Almanzo did was eat and eat! :)
I really do hear you Celia.
Thanks Jennifer! :)
My food dreams were all about cake shop windows! They still excite me. What is graham flour I wonder? I’m going to look it up!
Hahaha! I think graham flour might be either the stuff they make graham crackers with, or flour made FROM graham crackers. I’m going to look it up too! :)
I never thought about food as a child! It was just there on the table three times a day, nothing exceptionally bad or good, just food. I did rather envy Heidi though really I wanted to be like the girls in the pony books and ride horses along the beach.
Might pinch your bread statistics for Open Farm Sunday after I’ve converted hectares of wheat to bags of flour! Could you please send over a few hundred loaves so I can put them out on display?
Of COURSE you were a pony book girl! :) I think the only ones I read were the Follyfoot Farm ones. Can’t send you loaves, but feel free to pinch whatever you like. I’m smiling at the thought of your sacks of flour with sticky labels on them, saying “bake 35 x 1.3kg sourdough sandwich loaves with this bag of flour”… :D
Love your loaves and your flour. I just remember watching my friends load up about half a glass with milo and topping it with milk – it seemed like heaven to me but the idea of drinking this now seems horrid.
I also used to dream about having an Australian Women’s Weekly birthday cake – and I still can’t get enough of making these birthday cakes for kids today.
Johanna, those AWW birthday cakes were something else, weren’t they? I’m so glad you get to bake them now for Sylvia! :)
Ah yes lovely Celia, I used to read the muddlheaded wombat I wonder what that says?. My Mother detested cooking and couldn’t understand why we ate anything other than salad. Maybe thats why I like baking and cooking because it was a naughty pleasure that my Mother couldn’ understand
Tania, whatever the reason, you’re the best dessert chef I’ve ever met! :)
I’ve finally properly clicked with my sourdough starter, Fred. After developing an obsession with a local sourdough bakery whose loaves are amazing, but $8 a pop, I’ve also come to realise the incredible value of a bag of flour now that I can pretty much replicate their loaves for a fraction of the cost – I totally understand and share your flour-fuelled happiness and contentment!
Jas, the savings in baking your own sourdough are pretty mindboggling! So glad Fred is keeping you in loaves! :)
Hi Celia, I think my parents feel the exact same way you do except for them it’s a 25kg bag of rice. My parents are great cooks but as we always ate Chinese food as a child I use to dream of roast chicken and vegetables :) I think the biggest influence from my childhood is that you should eat well and always have lots of food so no one goes hungry. Making your own bread really is good value, I can’t believe how much you can make for $25!! Goodness I could only buy a few loaves for the same amount of money, my father in law has always baked bread and he’s always telling us we should try it. I think I will have to give it a go when I have time.
Stefanie, we have a rule here – “never knowingly under-cater”.. :)
The breadbaking saves us (literally!) thousands of dollars every year. Imagine how many Turkish plates we could buy with the excess.. :D
No idea 25 kg of flour could go so far, how long did it take you to do all that calculations?
Norma, only a few minutes – it was deciding which breads to include that took time! :)
I read those books too! I always loved the smell of fresh baked bread. Too bad my mom didn’t make it though. I do now though and it is probably one of my kids’ favorite homemade baked goods, especially smothered with homemade jam.
I think my boys would starve without homemade bread – they go through so much of it! :)
I can’t keep up with my boys! They have been know to polish off one loaf at dinner!
Oh wow, look at all those good-looking bread! I love the analogy of having a large baker’s bag as if having money in the kitchen bank :).
Julie
Gourmet Getaways
Thanks Julie – it really does feel like that too! :)
Looks all so fantastic! Will you send me a slice? haha :)
Thanks! They were fun to bake!
My childhood readings were Nancy and Plum by Betty Mcdonald and my cravings were for chicken pot pie and potatoes baked in the coals of the outdoor stove. And Anne of Green Gables had some of the best teatime ideas- plus read the Little House series- good plain food. My mother used to make pies and homemade noodles, cookies and cakes- but not much in the way of bread.
I also feel wealthy when I have a full pantry of bread flour.
This was fun- your post PLUS all the memories everyone had to share- Thanks!
Heidi, it really was fun reading all the comments, wasn’t it! I’ve never read Nancy and Plum – will check it out, thank you! :)
Love your big sack of flour! Great post! My last big sack ended up hosting a community of weevils so it had to go, but we have had lots of wheat/weather/harvest issues here in the last two years with English grown wheat so it didn’t surprise me, or upset me that much apart from the waste side of it – but I totally agree that it is the best value way to bake on a regular basis if you have a cool space to store it and engenders a lovely relaxed feeling knowing you have it to hand. I made the sweet dough bread as you know the other day and used less yeast and sugar but it came out very nicely and makes lovely toast with butter and blackberry jelly and a loaf went home with Dad today. He is a big ‘real bread’ fan too :) I have found a brand of goat milk here which doesn’t taste goaty! (I know Pete will raise an eyebrow at that but it is true, not sure why it doesn’t but no one so far has spotted it, though Pete probably would, wish I could sneak some into your fridge, just to see!)
I’ve found the best way to avoid weevils is to keep the sack in the kitchen, where I can keep an eye on it! Pete’s not entirely happy with a 25kg sack living in the kitchen, but he’s gotten used to it now. :) I used to go to a huge effort and divvy up my giant sacks and try to store them in the fridge and freezer, but I’ve since given up and now just plough my way through one sack at a time.
So glad you (and Michael!) liked the sweet dough! Honestly, there’s no chance of getting goat’s milk past Pete – you might have a chance with cheese – but he won’t go near the milk! :)
I’m fairly sure I became a baker due to the meringue mice and snails in my Mum’s biscuit cookbook – I wanted to make them but didn’t have the nozzles and piping bags needed so it was a pleasure deferred until adulthood! And I completely agree about the joy of a large bag of flour; it holds such promise!
Meringue snails! I can remember seeing those in old cookbooks as well! Isn’t it great when we can pinpoint the exact childhood inspiration that led to what we do now! :)
Great post Celia and I love the Laura Ingalls Wilder quote. Heidi definitely shaped my food hankerings and is influencing my daughter too. We’re both loving the Laura Ingalls Wilder books at the moment, aren’t onto this one yet, just read from ‘On the Shores of Silver Lake’ tonight. Ruby is asking if we can bake vanity cakes from ‘On the Shores of Plum Creek’ currently and I can’t wait!
Andrea, I love that you’re reading them with Ruby – how wonderful for the next generation to be sharing them as well! Given she was Dame Washalot from the Faraway Tree, I’d love to know who her favourite character in the Little House books! :)
Oh my goodness, did you love The Little House on the Prairie books as much as I did? They are timeless and I passed mine on to my daughter who read and loved them all. She and her friend used to “play” Laura and Mary just as I did with my sister.
You have such a way of expressing what a bag of flour means and you do put it in perspective. Until I started reading blogs from Australia and the UK I never realized the variety of flour out there. I was brought up with Gold Medal all purpose flour and that’s all I ever knew about.
Diane, absolutely adored them! Still do, if I’m honest. There are so many types of flour here – plain (AP), bread/bakers, cake, pizza, wholemeal, spelt, rye…the list goes on! :)
Lots and lots! That’s how much those child hood books influenced me. I wanted to eat spaghetti in Venice, make currant buns and jelly moulds, cordials from Anne of Green Gables like Rose mentioned….ah so many. Aren’t we lucky to have had those books to create those dreams.
Brydie, we are indeed. Lucky you’ve got your wee girl – my sons were never the least bit interested in the books I read as a child! :)
Money in the kitchen bank indeed Celia, I couldn’t agree more. A girl can never have enough flour x
Jane, too true! :)
My mother rarely baked bread but we could count on her for 4-5 pies a week. I think back to her gorgeous apple and blueberry pies.
Maureen, that’s fantastic, I reckon I bake a pie a month if my boys are lucky! Must have been a wonderful thing when you were growing up! :)
As you know, the women in my childhood used a lot of flour, too, though they bought their bread at bakeries, usually. We ate a lot of pasta back then. Had you had been around and living next door, no doubt you and Mom would have been trading goods over the fence. Bread for pasta. Sounds like an even trade to me. :)
John, could you imagine how cool that would have been? :) Yesterday I traded brioche for ham bones, so I came close.. :)
My parents used to nurture a humongous vegetable garden and that’s what turned me into a life long admirer/lover of fresh veggies and herbs :)
You are indeed a bread-queen. Those fresh, shiny breads are an absolute beauty to look at … they would be heavenly to taste … I bet.
Beautiful post. Loved it.
How wonderful to grow up with all that fresh produce! I hope my boys feel the same way about homegrown veg when they leave home! :)
My mom wasn’t much of a cook. My paternal grand-mother was! I learned to cook & bake when I was only 6 year’s old. She sadly died when I was 13.
She also had a large veggie & flower garden & it is there that I have the skills of gardening & growning my own veggies, it is all about knowledge, trying & testing & experiences! ;) A cool post! You sure can bake a lot! xxx
Must have been fantastic learning all that from your grandmother, Sophie! I’m sorry you only had her for a few years, but what a treat to have her teaching you at all! :)
Yes, yes & it was fun too!. xxx
I understand that feeling. As long as i have flour & eggs in my kitchen I can feed the world! ;)
Hahaha…yes, that’s it exactly! :)
My mum was the opposite to your mum and baked constantly. I think it was her medium for stress relief and to gain a level of gratitude from family, friends and the wider community. We always had at least 2 kinds of homemade biscuits and at least one cake available to us in Tupperware for the entire span of my childhood and we got dessert after dinner AND after lunch! I didn’t learn how to cook from my mum as she was too busy baking to teach us so that had to come after we moved out. I love the slow processes of baking and how good it feels to bring something hot and fresh out of the oven that will be eagerly devoured with appreciation. It’s the cooks reward :) I, too, have a huge bag of flour in my pantry. I buy it from the local grain mill and knowing that I have it sitting in the pantry gives me a feeling of resilience as well.
I find baking very soothing as well, so I can relate to your mum! Buying local flour must be a joy! :)
We don’t produce grain here in Tassie aside from some spelt a bit of barley and some oats so this can’t be truly “local” but it is milled here so I guess that’s something ;)