More and more bread. Yes, I love bread and I love making bread. I have been playing with all of the different options of how I can make bread and my latest is ciabatta burger buns. Stay tuned for photos and the recipe!

SPELT HOT CROSS BUNS!!!

Spelt Hot Cross Buns Recipe

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups of milk (rice, soy, hemp, almond, cow, goat, etc.)
1/4 cup vegetable oil (of your choice)
1/4 cup cane sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups white spelt flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 1/4 cups currants or raisins pre-soaked in hot water for 5 minutes before adding to mixer - 1/2 added before mixing, the other 1/2 added half way through

Apricot jelly or jam to cover

Method: Use kitchen aid mixer.

Place ingredients in mixer in order listed - except for 1/2 the dried fruit and the apricot jelly or jam.

Mix on low speed (#2 on kitchen aid) for 5 minutes, add remainder of raisins, then mix on next speed up (#4 on kitchen aid) for 5 minutes. The dough should be well mixed and away from the sides of the bowl.

Remove the hook and let rest in the mixer bowl for 15 minutes, then take it out onto a lightly floured counter top and divide into 12 even balls.

Place balls on a cookie sheet with parchment paper on it, lightly brush with oil and cover with saran wrap to maintain moistness during proofing.

Proof for 1 1/2 hours.


Before baking, draw the cross on top of the buns:

Cross ingredients:
3 tablespoon of white spelt flour
2 tablespoon of cold water.
Mix well together into a paste with no lumps.

Put it in a pastry bag with a little hole and draw cross on the top of the buns, be careful not to flatten the dough on top; be gentle.

Then bake on middle rack in pre-heated oven at 350∘for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile lightly heat up apricot jelly or jam with a bit of hot water on low heat, for glaze on hot cross buns. After the buns are baked, brush each bun with glaze and let sit for 10 minutes.
Happy Easter!!

Granddaughter...

I just had a whirlwind trip down to Northern California to visit my beautiful granddaughter, my son and daughter-in-law. Christine came up with an idea for a great gift for Lilja that was just perfect - A little baking kit with a mini muffin tin, tiny tulip cups for muffins like we used to have at the bakery and cookie cutters, mini cupcake papers and a little tool kit with rolling pin, whisk, wooden spoon and spatula.

On Thursday morning we left and drove to Portland, Friday morning we got up and drove to Fortuna in Northern California driving through incredible Vancouver like rain. Driving past the big trucks is always hard in the rain, but on the I5 were these massive three trailer long trucks. Passing one of those in a torrential downpour certainly takes some skill and effort. They spew alot of water out their sides and visibility becomes incredibly difficult. Then we arrived there and had dinner and time to open the gifts. She was so excited every time she pulled something out of the bag, she would open her eyes wide and make a noise of delight and her Mama, Britta said that she loved to help cook and bake. Christine, back in Vancouver was on skype and Lilja sat in her booster chair so that Christine could watch and see the whole thing on computer. She was so happy and excited. How lucky we are to hold such delight in small things.

The next day was time to bake with Nan (That's me) and Lilja and I made some little tiny blueberry muffins for everyone to share for breakfast. Lilja has to be the best two year old egg whisker I have ever met. There were adults who worked at the bakery who couldn't whisk an egg as well as Lilja. Britta told me that she loves whisking eggs and now she has the perfect size whisk and bowl just for her. I was impressed and she even helped me fold the dry mix into the wet and then add blueberries. We put them in the little cups and then into the oven.

Out they came and Lilja still in her pajamas sat down in her chair for breakfast. I have to say the highlight of my trip was making muffins with my granddaughter and it was well worth the 2 day drive and 2 days back with only 2 days to visit. Next time I will aim for a little more time down there. In the meantime we will continue to skype and hopefully they will come here soon.

Taxes!!

I love doing taxes! There are alot of people who think I have lost my mind when I say such things, but it's the truth. I filed my first taxes on my own in 1986. I like the forms, the simplicity of the numbers going where they are supposed to and I love the tax laws. I love knowing what you can and can't claim. Learning the changes that happen each year, including what can and can't be claimed. I even love working with the accounting firm Morrow Co. and passing completed financial statements onto them for some of my clients to have their taxes done by an accountant.

I have done both full service bookkeeping, payroll and personal and small business tax returns since the early 90's. I remember when I was a single parent with two small kids, I would help other parents do their taxes.

I am now available to help people with their taxes. Please feel free to contact me if you or someone you know needs their taxes done. thespeltbaker@gmail.com

I look forward to this season and helping those who do not want to do this on their own.

Baking Day.

The life of a spelt baker did not come about because I hate to bake, it is because I love to bake and today was baking day.

I made four different types of cookies all with organic Spelt flour of course.

Double Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Seed Butter, Almond Butter and a new creation - Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. I am pretty sure that I ended up making over a hundred cookies, but only baked 48 for taking to a friends house and having some at home. The rest I scooped out and froze the dough in balls. Cookies for later.

I love sharing cookies so much that I am going to share my newest cookie recipe with you today.

Here it is:

Spelt Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup of butter or Earth Balance
1/2 cup almond butter
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg - well beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup white spelt flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips

Soften butter/Earth Balance and cream.

Then add sugars, vanilla and the egg.

Whisk until creamed.

Add dry ingredients

Mix until smooth and fully blended.

Scoop onto tray using a small ice cream scoop. Press with fork.

Bake at 350 degrees for 9 to 12 minutes.

ENJOY!!!!

Alzheimer's

What a word and what emotions we have attached to it. Dementia is another one. A process that is difficult to understand and yet when presented to us we run in fear and in horror. When we are faced with someone we know and love being diagnosed with these, there can be a sense of relief and a sense of despair. The relief comes from knowing why our loved one has been unable to be there in ways that we expect them to. Our despair is knowing that this is not temporary and that the prognosis is not good. This can also be said about Cancer but we can still communicate with someone who is terminally ill with Cancer. This becomes less possible with Dementia.

Having a conversation today about just this subject my sister said that someone with Alzheimer's may not remember where they bought the shoes they are wearing, what city they were in, the cost, the person who went with them, or whether or not the sales person was male or female. There will however be a feeling that they have about those shoes. Do they feel good in those shoes, do they like the colour, do they have a positive association with those shoes. That feeling could come from many different places and probably part of it is how they felt with the people around them.

I immediately thought what an amazing gift that this illness can give us to stop a moment and look at the person in front of us and actually just be with them for a moment. Yes, we are lucky that we can remember where we live, what time we need to get to the coffee shop. Where our bank is. Which way the switch gets turned on the stove to turn it off or on. And how hard it is for us to see anyone, especially someone we love not remember those things or to try so hard to remember those things that they become distressed. Decision making becomes difficult when you don't have all the information and with Dementia, you don't no matter how hard you try. But all of those abilities may have robbed many of us from an ability that it appears Dementia does not take away and that is to feel the energy flow from one person to another. To feel the presence of someone caring about you and being with you in this moment. That moment may never be described by the person with Dementia, but the imprint of how they felt seems to remain.

One of my grandparents who suffered from Dementia always called my daughter - her great granddaughter - the nice little girl in the yellow dress. She did not know her name, she did not know that she was her great granddaughter. She knew how she felt whenever she saw her and she associated it with the yellow dress she wore once. What was inside her head I will never know. The functioning of her brain is in my mind for the scientists to try and figure out. How can I use what I have learned to not only help myself, others and those who suffer from Dementia. I will pass this message along. If you find yourself answering the same question four times and getting impatient, stop, breathe and recognize that how YOU feel is going to impact how the person you are with feels. Know that the only impact you have on this persons life, because you cannot give them their mind and their memory back is how they feel about what they are doing right now. It is in fact about being present, but not present in your mind, present in your energy. Feeling a connection as opposed to making one. Making a connection is all about using words to connect to someone. Feeling a connection is about feeling the energy from one person to the other.

This is my lesson for today. Thank you.

What being a parent means to me.

I had my first child when I was 18 years old, 3 months and 1 day before my 19th birthday. I had no doubt at the time that it was a lifetime commitment and was not one that I took on without realizing the all encompassing role that I would have for the rest of my life. I have now been a mother for well over half my life. I am also now a grandmother.

First and foremost, as a Mother, I am protector, caregiver, confidante, provider, guardian, teacher, prophet, leader, friend, guide, champion, motivator, messenger, nurturer, safety-net, the stability in my children's lives, a constant.

I am going to breakdown each one of those words to describe what it means to me.

Protector - If my child is in a place where he or she could be harmed physically, spiritually or emotionally, it is my job to intervene. An example is (physically) that when a child does not have his papers submitted for his green card, it was my job to tell him to get his ass in gear and get it done. Spiritually - when someone is directing angry energy towards my child, I intervene both with talking and protective energy to keep her safe. Emotionally - when my son was being teased for being gay in elementary school, I intervened and made it stop.

Caregiver - to make sure that they are taken care of - fed, clothed, housed. meeting their basic needs.

Confidante - being there to hear them when they have something that they are having a hard time with. Listening to them and sharing what wisdom I have to help them through the struggle they are having.

Provider - to be able to provide a safe refuge for them to come home to. Have good food, a safe home and all of the schooling that I can possibly afford to give them, everything they need. This includes extra curricular activities like dance, music lessons, film programs, art, sports etc.

Guardian - It is my job to protect them where they need it. When one of my children asked me why I was still making decisions for him when he was 15, I told him it was because it was still my responsibility to override a decision he made if I deemed it to be unsafe for him. That role remains intact until the child turns 19.

Teacher - to provide them with enough knowledge and skills to be able to be all of this to themselves and to their own children. This is ongoing and is a responsibility that I believe I have until the day I die. As they get older, they are also able to teach me. This goes from one way to reciprocal with their growth and age.

Prophet - when children are young, in my mind a parent is their to help them believe that they can be and do anything. Very few parents are able to help children realize their dreams and children have dreams that change. It is my job to show them the brightness of their lives to come. This is, in my mind, especially important as a parent can squash a child's dreams more effectively than anyone else. This is not only done by telling kids that they cannot do something, but also by putting to much pressure on a child or by not listening to what the child wants. As parents, we are the almighty and as children grow they question the almighty to learn their own power.

Leader - It is my job to lead them in the right direction with intuition, discernment and knowledge as my guide.

Friend - This one is important. Not every child has a parent as a best friend, however, it is important to be a friend to them and teach them what it is to be a friend. My mother taught me this and I hope that I have successfully taught my children. Exploring and defining what friendship means to them can only happen if they have had a friend and their first friend will be there parent(s).

Guide - Like the light in the dark. When a child is feeling at their worst, the parent guides them through whatever issue they are going through, giving them tools to manage. This is also linked to Teacher and we use that role to teach them how to be their own guide.

Champion - to believe in them, to egg them on to be the best they can be, to constantly tell them how good they are at whatever they do and to guide them to be even better.

Motivator - to kick their asses when they think they can't go on. To help them get tools to get past each struggle they have. Teach them that success is a good thing and that they not only deserve it, but should always strive towards it. Teach them that they are the only ones to hold themselves back and a parent's job is to not allow them to do that.

Messenger - To be able to give them the messages they need to hear in spiritual matters, guiding them to find and nurture their own spirituality. Allowing the messages to come to them and showing them where they might find them when they cannot find them on their own. Allowing them the time and space to shun spirituality and continue giving them the message that they are whole and complete the way they are.

Nurturer - This is more ethereal than anything else and may be hard for me to describe. To water them as necessary, feed them when they are hungry and to let them have quiet time when they need it, allowing them the chance to grow, just like flowers in a garden. To nurture is not to hover over and watch their every move, but to allow them the space and time to grow giving them all the tools they need to do that and allowing them to do it on their own as and when they should, while always being in the background watching to see if a storm is coming and taking what you need to protect them at that moment.

Safety-net - being there to catch them when they fall.

The stability in my children's lives/a constant - These two are essentially the same thing and it has to do with unconditional love. Unconditional love is not about unconditional acceptance. I will not accept boundaries being crossed, but I can still love the person. It means that no matter what they will always be close family. Part of that inner circle that you expect to spend the rest of your life with in one way or another. When their world is falling apart and they feel that they have nowhere to turn and nothing to stand on you are there, loving them. You have made a commitment to continue to parent them which encompasses all of the above until the day you (or they) die.

That is what being a parent means to me.