L E O N I E . W I S E

i didn’t know that life held anything so ineffably delicious as this bread…
- katherine mansfield, 1908. (from selected letters, clarendon press, 1989)

some of my earliest memories are of freshly baked bread, sitting on the kitchen counter, waiting for us to arrive home from school. one of my older brothers used to cut thick slices, then lather each slice with a generous helping of home-churned butter and some vegemite. me, i’m more of a beefsteak tomato girl.

my mother has always made bread: she is still to this day one of the most amazing cooks that i know.

what she makes is not fancy fare, however she has the astonishing ability to take a brief glance into any pantry and make something delicious, as if by magic, out of cupboards that i would think bare. i guess with nine children to feed, one does get pretty good at making something-from-nothing!

it’s taken me a really long time to realise that this way of showing love for others, through cooking, is one of the most precious gifts my mother could have given me. and she probably doesn’t even know she has… because i don’t think i’ve ever told her! cooking is a way that i can show my love and appreciation for others.

i suspect i learned to cook and make bread by osmosis from my mother, then bread more formally when i was 18 years old as part of a hospitality course. and it’s still one of the things i turn to when words just aren’t coming and i need to take some time out; rest. kneading bread gives my hands something creative to do (that also has a delicious end result), whilst my mind slows down; reverts to a state of quiet peacefulness.

the laurel room, washington hotel, washington island, door county, usa

for the second time this week, as the words refuse to come, i’ve been baking bread. this particular recipe was one i found whilst we were on holiday at the washington hotel in door county, usa. (it’s a lovely place and highly recommended if you want somewhere fabulous to visit: check it out when they’re open again for business).

even though i still don’t have the answers that i’m looking for, i feel like i’m closer to my calm centre; the place inside me where the answers are more easily able to be heard.

* i’ve included the recipe here, so you can give it a go yourself if you’re so inclined

freshly baked

multi-grain honey bread

[download the pdf]

ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups hot water
• 1 cup 7 or 10 grain hot cereal mix ⁽¹⁾
• 3 eggs ⁽²⁾
• 1/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature ⁽³⁾
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 4-5 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 1 tablespoon salt

method

1. in a large bowl, add hot water to cereal. cool to room temperature
2. in a second bowl, whip eggs and combine with buttermilk, honey, oil and melted butter. mix with cooled cereal
3. combine at least 4 cups of the flour, the yeast and salt, then mix into the liquid to form a slightly sticky dough
4. turn on to a floured surface, knead 10 mins, adding more flour if sticky
5. cover and let rise at room temperature 1 hour or until doubled in size
6. form 2 loaves and place into greased bread pans
7. let rise 30-40 minutes or until double again
8. preheat oven to 450 fahrenheit/230 celcius/210 fan
9. bake 30-40 minutes ⁽⁴⁾ until dark colour and hollow sounding when tapped on the bottom

footnotes

1. i buy a couple of bags of bob’s red mill hot cereal mix every time i take a trip to the usa as its the best mix i’ve tried.
2. if you are allergic to eggs like me, orgran ‘no egg’ is a lovely substitute
3. if you don’t have buttermilk you can make your own by placing 1 tsp white vinegar or lemon in a measuring cup, then adding milk to make up to 1/4 cup. stand 5 minutes before using
4. time will vary based on your oven. check frequently to ensure you don’t overcook!

anyone who listens long enough will write again.
accept that silence instead of always pushing.

- baxter, james keir (1926 – 1972)
poet, postman, teacher, dramatist, writer, social critic

above all, watch with glittering eyes the world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most likely places.those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.

(roald dahl, from the roald dahl treasury)

it is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy, it is disposition alone. seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other and seven days are more than enough for others.
- jane austen

to my beloved on our eighth wedding anniversary,

i have found that even eight years has been insufficient to make us fully acquainted. i hope our intimate conversation lasts for many, many more years to come.

i love you

…it sets one to dream to think about being called out to greater things…
…but at the end of it all when we put any book down, no matter how inspiring, we are left facing ourselves in the mirror, with the need to get up each morning walk out the door and live our own lives.
- david whyte. the three marriages: reimagining work, self and relationship

lunch. canon powershot g9

Clementine: You know me, I’m impulsive.
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

{ for darlene’s december views }

a year of adventures. canon 400d, 50mm f/1.8 II

outside our small safe place flies Mystery
- a.s. byatt, from possession: a romance

{ for darlene’s december views }

Every now and then go away,
Have a little relaxation,
For when you come back to your work
Your judgement will be surer;
Since to remain constantly at work
Will cause you to lose power of judgement…
Go some distance away
Because the work appears smaller
And more of it can be taken in at a glance,
And a lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen.
- Leonardo Da Vinci

daily prayers, pere lachaise cemetery, paris

disarmed i realised how easily you can lose all animosity towards someone you’ve deemed your enemy as soon as that person stops behaving as such.
- carlos ruiz zafón.
(from: the shadow of the wind)

—
the above quote got me… i read it, re-read it and have gone back to it over and over again.

it has me considering how I might be able to apply this in my own life… how I might be able to disarm others with my own behaviour by treating them with consideration rather than as an enemy.

it’s not that i specifically, or deliberately, do treat anyone as an enemy, more that i totally get what the author has written about being treated in a kind and friendly way; how when one response is expected, that another is disarming.

the future belongs to those who dare

susannah holds a freshly developed polaroid…
featuring: jo, emma, penny, me & meg