About the bread, and grains generally

I meant to mention the bread when wrote that post. I use Mark Bittman's Fast No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread recipe. In my experience, it doesn't make an incredibly high loaf, but I'm using it for stuffing, so I don't care terribly for looks. It has good flavor, is moist, and doubles well.

This is a picture of the bread slices drying so I can make them into crumbs for the dressing.

Now, about grains. The first year I tried the 100-mile challenge, I didn't have a source of local grain other than rice. I had to use nuts for the pie crusts, and we had a rice-based dressing. Not the end of the world, but also not the family favorite. At a Christmas party that year, I was talking about the search I'd done for local grain and a friend and work colleague mentioned a CSA she knew about that was strictly for grains! This sounded perfect for me.

The CSA supported Windborne Farm, and the farmer Jennifer Greene, in Covelo, CA. I signed up in January 2008. Roughly once a month, we got a bag of various whole grains, including wheat, rye, barley, and corn meal. Greene would also send blends like pancake mix and hot cereal mix, as well as unusual grains like teff and millet. The assortment varied from month to month.

Unfortunately (for me), the business model has ceased to work for Greene, and earlier this year, she wrote to all of us that she needed to diversify into a more general farming operation and focus her distribution closer to her immediate area.

When I got her message, I thought of my Thanksgiving meal and saved the wheat and rye flours and corn meal I had.

So, now I have a year to find another local source or get used to the idea of that rice dressing.