Spring has sprung, lookout Summer!

Greetings from Didaskalos Farm! It has been quite a while since I have written. Life has been very hectic lately. We have been dealing with a family crisis and have seen the Hand of the Lord do mighty things. It has caused my husband and I to make some adjustments to our living arrangements. We still are residing in our 9 acre, 7 bedroom/3 bath ancient property that needs ALOT of updating. However, we have had to move upstairs to the West Wing as we call it. :-) That is the area of the Farm house that we usually reserve for folks needing a place to transition before being able to resettle things in their lives ( we have had four groups go through) but apparently it is our turn. We are caring for a mentally incompetent 80 plus year old gentleman for the past 14 years. His sister was a dear Christian sister who left this Earth to Journey on to Heaven after a losing battle with uterine sarcoma. We are now caring for my husband’s mother who became widowed 5 years ago. As I seek God’s help everyday to manage everything He reminds me to count it all a privilege to serve in this capacity but it does change the dynamics in especially my role on Farm.

I have been attempting to plant my Summer garden and I am determined to get it done. I have installed two new Bee Hives and am so looking forward to honey in the not too distant future. Our meat chickens have a few more weeks before we process and I have large quail eggs in the incubator. We processed all our rabbits and have only the original doe and since the meat was so delicious we are determined to get the breeding program up and running again. We are going to start our Turkeys for Thanksgiving in the next few weeks so we can at least enjoy good meat for the holiday. We processed our two Berkshire pigs several months ago and they are absolutely delicious. We should have meat till late Fall. Our hens have FINALLY started laying again and we are overflowing with eggs at present. From the sublime to the ridiculous around here sometimes. Our Jersey milk cow Lissa has been a challenge to say the least. I thought I had a pretty good grip on dairy cows but I have learned a valuable lesson. She is really a great cow overall, trained well to be milked. Giving about 3-4 gallons of milk a day with twice a day milking now in her 13 month lactation which is quite good. No mastitis trauma Praise God so her health is excellent. However we are trying to get her bred and so far two failed attempts at AI. I will now try live cover using a bull on loan from a friend. I have decided to sell her and I think she will be a great Family Milk cow for someone.

My baking has been put on hold simply because I have not had the time to really crank up the my baking. I am baking the bare minimum to keep my family going but not filled any outside orders for sometime. I have declined several Markets/Festivals simply because I do not find enough time to do it well. I so enjoy the privilege of being able to create delicious food but until the Lord opens the door for that to take off I will wait patiently.

My Health Coaching is at a stand still. Folks are very resistant to change sadly and many continue to suffer. I am deeply aware of the economic status in our Country right now, poverty happens in many areas of our lives and low economics and lack of a sense of priority or urgency for change is a powerful driving force. Sadly I have several grown children whom my heart breaks for simply because they still do not see the connection between food and health and that FOOD is medicine.

I am now a New Country Organics Feed reseller. It has been a long time in coming but God has opened that door so I pray abundant blessing over this endeavor. I am also considering reselling Nood Clean products. This is a small business located in Taylors, SC and they have some pretty neat cleaning products. So look for the announcement of new things happening area of this crazy website.

I have a potential Bread Making Class 101 coming in late May/early June. I have been contacted by a sweet lady about offering another class. So if you are interested at all in baking bread with Einkorn please contact the Farm so we can see what can be scheduled. I am also going to include an intro to Sourdough so much can be gleaned if you desire. Still trying to settle on a price point. Hopefully we can get these classes going once again.

Well I will close this update Blog post for now. If you are interested in Einkorn and do Facebook I do have a Group called Einkorn Lovers Group. Feel free to search us out. I post lots of recipes and the folks on the Group do contribute to the conversation weekly. Till I post again! Enjoy what is left of Spring.

Einkorn two hour dairy free sandwich loaf

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 1/4 cups (295 g) warm water, at 100°F

  • 1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast

  • 2 tablespoons sugar

  • 2 tablespoons oil

  • 3 3/4 cups (450 g) jovial All-Purpose Einkorn Flour

  • 1 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. In a small bowl combine the water, yeast, sugar and oil. Let the mixture rest and get creamy for about 15 minutes. In a large bowl combine the flour and the salt. together until dissolved and creamy..

  2. Add the yeast mixture to the flour bowl and sprinkle the salt on top. Using a stiff spatula, mix the dough until the flour is absorbed. The mixture will come together quickly into a wet dough. Do not add extra flour.

  3. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let rise for 45 minutes.

  4. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Grease an 8 ½ x 4 ½-inch loaf pan.

  5. Heavily flour a work surface. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and transfer it to your work surface.( the dough will be quite wet and you might need to add a fee tablespoons of flour to work with it). Knead the dough slightly to get a soft cohesive dough. Spread the dough by pulling gently on the edges to form an 8” long oval. Fold the oval into thirds like a letter, lifting and pressing the ends to the center. Stretch, fold, and press the top and bottom into the center to form a loaf shape. Place the shaped loaf into a well oiled bread pan.

  6. Cover the pan tightly with greased plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes or until bread rises to the top of the pan. .

  7. Lower the oven temp to 375°. Remove the plastic wrap and transfer the loaf pan to the oven. Bake for 40 minutes until the loaf just begins to turn golden brown on top. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out the loaf onto a cooling rack. Let cool for 2 hours before slicing.

Recipe courtesy of Jovial foods. Slight modifications are mine.

My Favorite Holiday is this month! Thanksgiving!

As I sit here getting prepared for a freeze warning here in SC I get excited to realize Thanksgiving is just a short few weeks away. Even in these difficult times both economically and with all the horror on the world scene we can rejoice that God is still in control. Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord… we can rest in that. Nothing passes the eye of God unnoticed. All the evil we see will be dealt with by God Himself.

Now I have had the privilege of being introduced to an Organic Apple Orchard up in Hendersonville, NC. It is about a 2 hour drive for me. It is called The Twisted Apple and so far I have had their Crimson, Ambrosia, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and their true heritage apple the Arkansas Black. I love baking pie in the Fall and having a locally grown organic apple to bake with is JUST AMAZING! They can be found here on FB https://www.facebook.com/twistedapplellc/about Now I usually bake apple pie with the Granny Smith apple because it is firm and tart. But the Arkansas Black is a very good substituent. Read about its history here.https://arkansasgrown.org/arkansass-very-own-apple/

Now as you all know I bake with Einkorn pretty much exclusively so looking for an apple that will go great with my Pate Brisee pie crust recipe was the challenge. The Arkansas Black did not disappoint. So now that I have been blessed to be able to purchase 2 bushels of these wonderful apples I will be baking some yummy apple pies with both varieties. I have decided to share these lovely pies so if your local and want an awesome organic apple pie for your Thanksgiving dessert let me know. I will be selling from our cottage and we will have other holiday pies as well. Price prices will be $40 per pie. These are 100% organic apple pies made with 100% organic grass fed butter and 100% organic einkorn flour.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of all. Our nation has the privilege of taking an ENTIRE day to give Thanks. Now of course they have kicked God out of the day pretty much and the football god has taken over but we worship The One True God Jesus Christ and we Thank Him for all He has given to us this year. We will have the privilege of eating our own heritage raised turkey and we rejoice at all of God’s goodness and love.

Einkorn Pumpkin Maple Scones with Maple Glaze

INGREDIENTS

Pumpkin Scones:

Maple Glaze:

INSTRUCTIONS

Pumpkin Scones:

  • Preheat the oven to 350F.

  • Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

  • Cut the butter (using your fingers or a pastry cutter) into the flour, until it resembles coarse crumbs.

  • Whisk the wet ingredients together in a small mixing bowl.

  • Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine as much as possible with a wooden spoon. You'll probably need to finish with your hands (gently kneading the dough until well combined). Just don't overwork the dough. 

  • Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Using your hand/fingers, shape the dough into a disc that is 1” thick. 

  • Cut the dough into 8 triangles. 

  • Place the scones on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown around the edges and the surface has cracked.

  • Allow the scones to cool before topping with the glaze. 

Maple Glaze:

  • Whisk together the glaze ingredients: powdered sugar, maple syrup, cream, vanilla, salt, and (optional) nutmeg. I prefer thick glaze. If you'd like a thinner glaze, add another tablespoon of cream (or maple syrup). 

  • Once the scones are cool, spoon the glaze over each scone. Use the back of a spoon to spread the glaze over the scones. 

Recipe courtesy of LiveSimply

Einkorn Cherry Pistachio Crumb Cake

INGREDIENTS

For the Cherry Filling:

  • 1 ¼ pounds (571 g) dark sweet cherries - fresh or frozen, stems removed, pitted and halved

  • ⅓ cup (66 g) granulated sugar

  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

For the Streusel:

  • 1 ½ cups (180 g) jovial All-Purpose Einkorn Flour

  • 1 cup (120 g) chopped roasted pistachios

  • ⅔ cup (140 g) light brown sugar 

  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon

  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

  • 8 tablespoons (118 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes

For the Cake:

  • 3 cups (360 g) jovial All-Purpose Einkorn Flour

  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

  • ½ teaspoon baking soda

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • 12 tablespoons (170 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan

  • 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar

  • 4 large eggs

  • 1 ½ cups (360 g) sour cream

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter and flour a 9x13” pan and set aside.

  2. Make the cherry filling: In a medium saucepan, bring the cherries, sugar, and salt to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and stir frequently, smashing cherries with a wooden spoon until they’re softened and syrupy and most of the liquid has cooked down, about 20 minutes. Mixture will firm up a bit as it cools. You should be left with about 1 ⅓ cup of jammy cherry mixture. If yours remains liquidy after it cools, just strain away any excess.

  3. Make the streusel: In a medium bowl mix together the flour, pistachios, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or working quickly with your fingers until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated and there are clumps the size of peas. Place in the freezer while you prepare the cake.

  4. Make the cake:  In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, cardamom, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

  5. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 1 minute.  Reduce mixing speed to medium and add the eggs one at a time.  Mix in the sour cream and vanilla.

  6. Slowly fold in the flour mixture and mix until incorporated.

  7. Spoon the cake batter into the bottom of the prepared pan and spread with the back of the spoon. Spoon the cherry filling over the top and spread evenly. Sprinkle the top with all of the streusel mixture.

  8. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 55 to 60 minutes until the edges are golden brown. You can also insert a toothpick into the middle of the cake to see if it comes out clean, but don’t worry if your toothpick comes out covered with cherry filling.

  9. Let the cake cool completely before slicing. Cake is best served the day it's made, but is good for up to 3 days if covered and stored at room temperature.  

    Recipe courtesy of Jovial Foods