Topic: Seasonal/Holiday
The demo drawings (above). 'F' stands for the fold.
My no-knead flatbread today fell into the pan in the shape of a heart. What could I do but paint a background for St. Patrick's Day and take a pic of this heart shaped bread. Cheddar cheese on it was delicious. This is so simple to make.
Evening - in a small container mix some wholewheat flour, a pinch of salt, and a healthy pinch of yeast. Then gradually add warm water while stirring mix with a fork. Alternate a touch of stirring with a splash of water. You should not mix/stir it completely until you feel there is enough water in it. It should be a loose mix. Once you have that, you can stir until it is well mixed. You'll see it do its rubbery elastic sheeting thing. Cover loosely and set in a warm dark place overnight.
Morning - heat the stovetop skillet and throw down some cornmeal on it. Carefully spoon out the amount of battery dough/doughy batter you want for your 'flat bread' onto the cornmeal on the heated skillet. You don't want it to deflate anymore than is unavoidable. (It should be loose enough that it spreads rather than keeping a mound shape.) Cover the pan keeping the heat as hot as possible but not burning. You have to know your stove. I use my stove and cast iron skillet for toasting all the time but I don't know what that temp is called. (sorry!) Turn it perhaps after 7 min. - when you can see it has set up/firmed up and would hold its shape if turned. Try not to let it burn. (That is the trouble with cooking starch over direct heat and not keeping it moving.) Cook it on the other side til you think it is done. You can then split it and toast it, or let it cool and eat how you want. I usually have cheese with it.
Kids' art class we did papercuts for St. Patrick's Day. It was just supposed to be the shamrock, but then I showed my talking leprechauns from a couple years ago. One child wanted to try that too. They did beautifully given the challenges of working with scissors, symmetry/mirroring, positive and negative effects, and getting instruction from righties while being lefties! One of the tricks to flowing scissor cutting is think of the scissors as an alligator mouth that keeps biting through the paper with the back of its mouth. The mouth should not close often. Also the cast away part should be to the outside of your dominant hand (the scissor hand), the figure in your holding hand.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
