Mosi has been baking a bounty of sourdough breads: fig and walnut (altered from this recipe), roasted garlic and rosemary, more focaccia (rosemary lemon this time) and pizzas. The process always take more than a day, and I am always impressed by his exactitude and his care: routinely measuring flours by ounce and kneading the dough, again and again and again.
Photo: Left-right: Fig walnut; malted wheat; garlic rosemary; more fig walnut.
I keep making banana bread and chocolate chip cookies: both simple, requiring little preciseness, and eternally forgiving when I add the wrong ingredients. This is the kind of baking I enjoy, while Mosi lives for a two-day challenge where one failed step could end in disaster.
Photo: Stretch and fold for the fig walnut bake.
Living in a new country can be disorientating sometimes, but this time in our kitchen, making food by from scratch, reminds us both of family and home. It feels like loaf by loaf we're making this stark, modern apartment we live in Home. Floury tea towels line the counter, dough bubbles and rises, butter and jam are left out and ready, and the cutting board rarely lacks crumbs.
Photo: Rosemary focaccia with slivered lemon
The last several months have been challenging and restless, but I notice when we slow down, spend time baking or cooking and eating together, we've been able to enjoy our time together as a family of three.
Toasting some of this bounty each morning with a cup of coffee is a luxury; for this I can't be anything but thankful.
Photo: Fig walnut wheat. Do it.
Most people go through major life changes every few years, some of them more uncomfortable and disorienting than others. What do you do to feel more "at home" during these times?
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