not bad for a first try...

81 layers of dough and butter.  Video coming Monday.  85,92,46,0,B

a friday night film

gift from a bearded brother...

A visitor showed up today bearing gifts.  Craig Smith has been out to visit once before and showed up today with something special for TFL.  He has been following my blog for a couple of years and has been keeping up with my recent baking escapades.  It just so happened he had a KitchenAid stand mixer collecting dust in his garage so he brought it out today.  He also brought some real prosciutto to put in my next loaf of Chupa bread.  Craig just got upgraded to premium visitor class!  (Craig - if you see this before you leave the area - I need your home address so I can send you some Field Lab merchandise)  76,83,40,0,B 

not just for preppers...

A couple of years ago I was contacted by the producers of Doomsday Preppers about being featured in an episode.  (It should be noted that I have turned down over 20 reality TV offers in the past 10 years)  I told them I was not interested because: 1.  I don't do reality TV  2.  I'm not a prepper.  3.  I am not expecting doomsday in my lifetime.  4.  If I was a prepper - why would I want to be on national television?  That being said...I just ordered some "prepper" hard white wheat to experiment with once my grain mill arrives.  Free shipping and a little extra discount for waiting an extra day for delivery and it works out to unadulterated flour at 52 cents/pound.  69,75,46,0,B

taking the next step...

I made an executive decision and decided to take the plunge in regard to milling my own flour.  I was leaning toward going this route and just got pushed over the edge when Ginger Hillery contacted me today about a really good deal on 50 pounds of a whole 7 grain mix she had available for me from her supplier - hard red wheat, oats, triticale, rye, barley, soft white wheat, spelt.  Looks like I am going to have to stop giving away my bread (except for any visitors that show up wearing a BE LIKE CHUPA tshirt)... 62,70,60,T,W

a monday matinee...

beware of evil concupiscence...

Colossians 3 

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.  3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.  4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.  5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:  6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:  7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.  8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.  9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;  10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

Taste and See

Had a nice visit with Ginger Hillery yesterday - owner of Taste and See bakery in Alpine.  She gave me a thumbs up on my bread flavors..."Amazing bread! I love it! Great crumb, terrific taste, and yes, goes well with butter. I liked the honey wheat with oats, but must say the Chupa was delicious and a favorite with my employees. Actually I enjoyed every loaf and am thinking that you folks down south are gonna be lining up to buy his bread!!"   She uses only fresh milled flour in her baked goods and gave me 4 cups of her Montana Prairie Gold to experiment with.  Prepped two batches this afternoon to compare them when they get baked tomorrow - one with my Blue Bird flour and one with her fresh milled hard white wheat flour.  Since I first contacted her last week, I have been researching milling my own flour.  If I decide to make the switch - I need some of my loyal followers to order Chupa mugs and tshirts so I can buy a grain mill. (free loaf of Field Lab Solar Oven Bread to any visitors that show up wearing a Be Like Chupa tshirt!)  77,91,51,0,B

a friday night film

a load of bread

Baked 14 test loaves over the last two days.  Taking some to Alpine tomorrow to get a critique from a local bakery.  87,94,46,0,B

Star Power

How do you know you have a genuine loaf of Field Lab Solar Oven Bread?  Look for the star on the bottom.  79,87,47,0,B

yeast ecosystem...

68,75,41,0,B

a monday matinee...

winnowing...

perky...

From The Bread Lab:  Altered the chemistry and cooking technique and finally got a "perky" loaf on the third test batch.  Field Lab Solar Oven Honey Oat Wheat has been perfected.  71,83,51,0,W

a friday night film

Honey Oat Wheat

First test batch of the last Field Lab Solar Oven bread offering to go into production...Honey Oat Wheat. Needs a little more "spring". Second test batch prepped for baking tomorrow. Not only do I have to get the taste, texture, and look just right - but I also have to tweak the recipes for each batch to fit "X" amount of one quart dutch ovens. I probably would have done better in high school chemistry had they included bread baking. The ancient tradition of bread depends on a cascade of complex chemical reactions.  70,79,50,0,B  

labels

Three loaves perfected...one more to go.  63,69,48,0,B

a new void...

Finally found a new home for all that insulation that was gifted to me six years ago.  I kinda miss those piles already.  62,69,48.0.B

a monday matinee...

for conscience sake...

Romans 13  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.  For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.       

The Bread Lab

Two recipes taste perfected (Artisan White and Chupa Bread).  Now going for "the look".  78,87,53,0,B

a friday night film

cryptantha crassipes under glass...

Day long visit from a professor and 2 grad students from the University of Idaho here to study the Terlingua Creek Cat's Eye plants.  It was kind of like an episode of CSI Texas.  Dr. Mark Schwarzländer and Masters degree student Karuna Nepal and PhD student Jessica Fung were here to extract volatiles from the leaves and flowers of some select plants.  They did this by isolating plant parts with little bags and setting up pumps that would pull air through them to be collected in tiny chambers.  Each collection lasted 6 hours.  They have to FedEx the samples to their lab tomorrow to be deep frozen and run through a GC-MS instrument (gas chromatography - mass spectrometry) to reveal the organic compounds in the plants.  Chupa helped.  66,76,41,0,B

cleaning and baking...

The west side of the greenhouse finally reached a tipping point as far as the mess is concerned.  Another big load headed to the landfill soon.  Video coming Friday. 













Baked another test batch then headed down to Study Butte to visit my bread mentor India Wilson.  She is partly responsible for my latest bread efforts ever since she had a sample years ago of some of my first experiments.  Seems that every time our paths crossed,  she she would ask me when am I going to bake more bread in my solar oven.  She gracefully gave me some samples of a few of her latest efforts.  63,74,45,0,B 

fans from the UK

It just so happens that a new fan from England was already planning a trip to Terlingua when the new Ben Fogle episode on The Field Lab aired in the UK.  She connected with me on Facebook and stopped by for a visit today - and brought me some English snacks and a set of tea towels for my bread baking experiments.  She was out with one of her sons to track down a piece of property she bought out here 14 years ago (sight unseen off the internet).  Turns out her 20 acres is land locked on a section of the ranch that has no direct road access...but at least she owns a little chunk of Texas.  Ben approved of their visit.  64,75,34,0,B

a monday matinee...

the peaceable kingdom

Isaiah 11

back to manual

Well...that Cheftronic stand mixer shit the bed on the sixth batch of dough.  Thanks to Amazon Prime, I am sending it back for a full refund.  Going to stick to hand mixing for now...but I have my eye on this one.  I think I will wait until I see some return on this venture before I invest in any more equipment.  I also need to refurbish my old large solar oven which can handle 18 one quart dutch ovens at a time.  74,90,44,0,B

a friday night film

another bread test...

Not a good solar oven day, so I baked these in the gas grill.  59,69,39,0,W