Bread
It’s a new year.
And, apparently the ‘Twixtmas’ time has ended and we begin the 7500000000 days of January. Is it only me that thinks January lasts forever?
For me the new year started with a shift of the moon, coming into a new energy, Capricorn? That was a kick in the teeth for me. Propper potent energies. I’m not one for moons but tis one got me a good-en. All the ‘want to do stuff’ energy, then a massive crash yesterday, and then better in the evening. Yes it could have been a sugar high, probably wasn’t as I’d not been sugaring yesterday. So this energy we find ourselves in as 2022 starts is an interesting one. I write this with the smell of spelt bread wafting through the house as I’ve just finished baking it.
Its one of the things I want do more of this year, make my own bread. I’ve got an interesting relationship with bread, I was a compete addict. Literally could demolish a whole tiger loaf in one sitting. And not one of the little ones. Bread was my heroin. What is fascinating for me, as someone who is interested in me and how I work. Is that the bread has got to look like white bread? Like a tiger loaf, or sliced loaf. And what I’ve done is change how my brain views this sort of bread. I changed the yummy association from yummy to yucky. You don’t need to know the yucky. I’ve been an emergency nurse for a while. My tolerance of Yuck is relatively high. So white bread is not something I crave now. That is a huge bonus. Not to the people who had shares in tiger bread, to me.
Making my own bread does not have the same associations, which is great, but I also don’t want to down it like a pint of stella on a Friday in a rough pub. As I’m all sure you want to know what I do to make my bread, this is it.
Yeast, I get cheap yeast from aldi, I use two of their sachets for this.
Spelt flour, wholemeal. As not white bread. – Enough.
Salt, I use sea salt, as I’m a pretentious git. A generous pinch. I’ve got big hands so maybe two for normal people?
Honey, I use local honey, see above reason. Probs about two serving spoons.
Water, warm. You could use filtered, if I’m feeling posh I will. I use a mug full.
So, honey, water, salt and yeast in a big mixing bowl. Mix it up, wander off, and watch an episode of Hawkeye on Disney plus. Or that new sex in the city programme. I’m not going to judge. Don’t binge. Just the one episode.
It will be frothy. I give it a stir. And then add some spelt flour. I add some, probs about a mugs worth. And stir it all up. It should end up like playdo. When you stir it it picks up all the stuff stuck to the side of the bowl. I then kneed it, until I get bored. So maybe five minutes? If that.
I then stick it in the loaf tin, that I’ve thoughtfully lined with grease proof paper. If you’ve got quality tins, you may not use the paper. I’ve scratched my tins up loads getting bread stuck in them, so I use paper. Smoosh it all out with the spoon and put a clean -ish tea towel over it. Then back to Disney plus. Or do some meaningful work for a couple of hours.
When you come back, stick the wibbly doughy mass in the over. 150 degrees C. For about an hour. Hotter it gets chrispy-er. Cooler it gets even more stodgey. This makes a relatively dense loaf. That takes butter well and is great for cheese on toast or páte. Is also great in soup or stew.
I like spelt as it’s a ‘viking’ grain that was used back in the day. It also has a different gluten that is not in wheat. This causes less upset tummies in people who don’t like gluten.
So that is how I make bread.
You can use that Egyptian grain, Kamut, instead of spelt with the same proportions. But maybe a little more water as it likes the water. I guess as it’s from a dessert? I’m not sure I spelt that word right. I don’t mean ice cream, I mean sandy place where camels live.
Aside from me rambling about bread, what is the point of this post? It’s a good way to gently break yourself into the new year, without the ‘new you’ BS. Yes, the Zeitgeist Is huge right now for gyms, diets and new routines. If your mind works well with that, then great. Mine does not. A fact that is supported by actual science, people don’t maintain new year’s resolutions. So, combined with my lockdown paunch, my yule tide blubber needs to go. Everything wants to sell me a diet. What actualy works is small changes. Like baking your own bread, not buying a loaf. Yes its more expensive and takes more time, this means you enjoy it more. Little changes are how victory is achieved. Not the do or die rush to the end. Choose a small, minisule thing to change. Only something that you can stick to. Maybe shift from store brought bread to home-made, or spending 30s a morning doing breath work. Remember while the nights are long, and the sun is low our bodies want to eat more and move less. It’s part of how we survived as a species before mcdonalds and uber eats. Fighting how our bodies are made is hard. But using how they are made is powerful. Removing processed sugar, and allowing natural sugar is great. Becoming alcohol free, vegan, and working out three times a week, may be a bit much if you’ve spent the last week on the couch eating chocolate, drinking rum and enjoying a full English every day. Small changes add up.
This is echoed in the runes for this time of year. The energy right now is Eihwaz, the rune of holding energy and not being wasteful. So keep your victories small, micro even, and let them mount up. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Don’t fix all the things at the same time, break it down.
To get some insight into how your personal runic energies work you can delve into your birth runes. These are four runes that, like an astrology birth chart, give you an insight into the energies around you when you were borne, and how they may affect you. Your:
Sunna’s Chariot – your heroic self or soul purpose
Earth rune– your skilful warrior or practical purpose
Lunar rune– your passionate self or emotional purpose
Nornir’s Gift – your evolutionary key or destiny’s helper