Sunday Sick Day

    I was informed by my sweetie that I would not be going to church today. She apparently thinks my sense of duty might overcome my desire to not be a Typhoid Mary and spread my cold to the rest of ward. I'm pretty sure I would have stayed home on my own but her edict certainly made the decision easier on my conscience. I'm enjoying a rather leisurely Sunday. I did still have to go outside and take care of the goats and the poultry. I spent some time on lds.org. I read an interesting article by Elder Uchtdorf about the Dead Sea Scrolls and listened to some chapters from the Book of Mormon while I spun some wool. I was interested to learn that there are about a dozen names used in the Book of Mormon that aren't found in the Bible but somehow turned up in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Included in the list are the names Sariah, Hagoth, Alma, Muloki, and Ammonihah.

    I had originally planned to bake bread on Monday, but since I will be home all day I've decided to do it today.  I took the dough out of the fridge at about 10 a.m., then formed it into loaves at about noon. I divided the dough into two loaves. One loaf (about 1/3 of the dough) I made into the standard "batard" while I used a banneton to help shape the other loaf into a "boule". The batard is the standard torpedo shaped loaf while the boule is a circular loaf.  I received the banneton, a reed proofing basket, as a birthday gift from my daughter Rachel.  I was really tickled to get the banneton but I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that it's been almost a year and I'm just now using it for the first time.

The dough at noon after a two hour rise

     After the two hour rise, the dough has to be shaped, then allowed to "proof" for another two hours in its final shape.  The use of the banneton or proofing basket allows the boule loaf to develop a little more height.

My banneton, oiled, floured, and ready to use

    My boule loaf came out of the banneton without mishap. Since it was the first time I had used it I was concerned it might stick to the basket in some place. I used a razor blade to put the cuts in the tops of the loaves. The cuts are decorative, but also allow the loaves to rise better. The oven was already preheated to 550 degrees fahrenheit so into the oven they went. I was so excited to get them into the oven that I neglected to take a photo of proofed and cut loaves. The below photo of the loaves newly placed in the oven will have to suffice.

Boule loaf almost finished proofing

Proofed batard loaf

Proofed and cut loaves just placed in the oven. Note the decorative swirls on the boule

Voila! Home baked sour dough bread

    The bread turned out well. I think I need to make my cuts a bit longer. The batard loaf started to blow out on one side.  The boule loaf had a small blowout on one end that caused it to resemble a turtle starting to poke his head out of his shell.  Longer cuts on the top of the loaf would allow the bread to rise in the oven better without trying to escape to one side or the other. I was dying to cut into one, but the book said they need to cool for an hour before cutting. Bishop Nielson told me once that serving bread hot is a way to compensate for poor quality bread as it all tastes good hot from the oven. At Linda's suggestion I did butter the crust while the bread was still hot.

The crust is a bit dark but the interior is perfect

    Today represents such a stark contrast to last Sunday.  A week ago I arose at 6:00 a.m. in order to have time to feed the animals and get ready for a 7:30 a.m. bishopric meeting. That meeting ended at about 9:30 a.m. giving me an hour and a half break before Sacrament Meeting at 11:00 a.m. I spent part of that break on the computer at the bee store indexing. I conducted Sacrament Meeting due to Brother Sessions being out of town, then taught a family history lesson in a youth Sunday School class. Our normal three hour block of Sunday meetings ended at 2:00 p.m.  I stayed at the church to wait for the deacons to return from collecting Fast Offerings, then counted tithing with the ward financial clerk, Brother Fabela. After dropping off the tithing deposit at the bank I just had time to get back to the church for 4:30 p.m. choir practice.  I got home at about 6:00 p.m., ate dinner, then went to Bishop Nielson's house at 7:30 p.m. to practice a musical number the bishopric was supposed to perform today in church.  I'm not complaining about the time I spend in church service. I really enjoy my Sundays, as busy as they are. However, choir practice is my favorite part of Sunday. I feel the spirit singing the hymns of Zion more than anything else I do on Sunday. I'm grateful that our current choir director is pretty hard core in that we have choir practice almost every Sunday. While I enjoyed my Sunday of leisure today, I really missed going to church.