One reason I haven’t baked any Christmas cookies yet is, I have so much other cooking to do! I’m trying to eat vegetables, and they take time. I like to make bread, but I admit that is not a high priority. I must learn to prioritize better. I’m always telling other people that “We can’t do everything all the time,” but I guess I don’t listen to myself. Or more to the point, I’m not willing to say No to myself.
This picture is after the sponge had been sitting on the counter for several days. You can see how it rose up the sides of the bowl and then fell again, before I added the zest and the caraway and anise seeds.
I made such a big batch of dough for my Swedish Sourdough Rye, I hadn’t bought enough oranges from which to get the zest. So I put in some lemon zest as well. This dough had a total of five days to ferment, because it kept being “not a good day” for finishing it. Today when the computer guy was here setting up my new computer, I planned to bake it, but I think I was still trying to do too many things at once, and one of the loaves didn’t work out, shall we say. I don’t want to talk about it.
I got fat yellow carrots in my farm box, and leeks, both of which I cooked. There was a head of Savoy cabbage in there, which I put away for later, after taking out the last head of regular cabbage from a farm box last month and roasting it in the oven with the carrots.
The beautiful loaf of bread baked for 50 minutes in the Dutch oven at 500 degrees, so I’m confident it’s well cooked. I put it in the freezer for a time one of these winter nights when I have someone else at my table, maybe along with a pot of soup. Roasted vegetables are comfort food, but more coziness is coming!
Gladsome Lights 
Oh, the bread looks so tasty AND cozy! The carrots are adorable. Veggies are so sweet and such good food. I need to expand my repertoire. I felt like I may have done too much for bookclub, because I sort of wore myself out and I wonder if they were a little overwhelmed by my efforts. Hmmmm. Thinking about that.
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Yumm – that all sounds good. We harvested our beets, so I am making borscht (with imitation sour cream) tonight. Also, some butternut squash. Mara and Ansgar will be here for a couple more days. Lots of love
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Sometimes I wonder what season you enjoy the most…happy Nativity to you.
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That all looks and sounds delicious! Who needs cookies yet with that food instead?
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I have uploaded a Dr Oz breakfast idea I can’t wait to try. Slicing sweet potatoes and toasting them in the toaster then using them as a base for avocado toast. Sounds about my speed these days!
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That loaf of bread makes my mouth water, just thinking about it… with sweet butter. I do love homemade bread! I’m not sure if those are roasted parsnips in the third photo. They look good too.
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Everything looks so tasty, especially the carrots!!!
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I would love to try that bread! I believe in the kind of bread you bake, on many levels. So why don’t I do it myself? I keep meaning to, promising myself that someday I will. I used to decades ago, not with the frequency that you do but enough to remember how good it tastes and how nice it was for us to take a loaf out and butter it while it was still warm. Homemade bread seems to me to be the heart of cookery. And you really do appear to me to be a bread genius. I’ve given up canning and pickling due to arthritis in my hands but I could make bread using the dough hook of my big mixer, couldn’t I? Maybe not with the results that long kneading brings but at least it would be hot bread. After Christmas?
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