Love in the Air

Valentine's Day at our house is not usually traditional. We aren't big on spending money on things like candy, big stuffed teddy bears (what would I do with it anyway?!?), or flowers (unless they are potted or can be planted...with the exception of tulips. Tulips are always welcome in our house, cut or potted. Just saying!)

So, what does a day about love look like at Peck Place? It starts with Farmer John getting up with the boys so that Mommy could sleep in (of course, thanks to two Little Farmers, I've been trained to wake up anyway so it wasn't that late, lol!) When I walked into the kitchen, this is what I found:

Little Farmer T made this card all on his own....came up with what to say and draw. I love it! 

Not to be outdone, Little Farmer G made his with a little help from Dad. When he told me about it, he said "It's so silly!"

Farmer John has been working on his own labor of love for the past few days...a new smaller coop so that we can house our two breeds separately and keep both gentlemen happy! He has dubbed it "The Love Shack"...can't get much better still a work in progress, but I think it is going to be adorable! Stay tuned for updates! 

They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach and if that holds true, I think I was successful today! While Farmer John was working on "The Love Shack", I was menu planning, gathering tax info and cooking a tasty dinner. A friend suggested this recipe (http://goop.com/recipes/winter-minestrone/?mbid=social_facebook) from Goop this week and I made it using homemade bone broth. It was so good!

What's a good pot of soup without bread? I looked at several recipes on the web as starting points and came up with this herbed garlic loaf....it was a hit! 

Herbed Garlic Loaf

Ingredients:

3.5 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup of warm water, plus 2-4 T as needed
1/2 cup of melted butter
1-2 tbsp chopped herbs (I used 1 T of rosemary and thyme, but would definitely double that next time)
2 tsp sea salt plus more for the top
1 tsp active yeast
1/4 cup whole cloves of garlic (You could roast the cloves ahead of time if you prefer, but we did not)
Sprinkle of raw sugar

Directions:

Place warm water in a measuring cup and add yeast and the sprinkle of sugar. Let stand for 5-10 minutes to proof yeast. Meanwhile, in a stand mixer, using dough hook, combine flour and salt. Add water, butter, garlic and herbs to mixture and kneed 5-10 minutes until dough forms a ball in the bowl, adding water as needed.

Place bread in a warm area and let rise, covered, until doubled (approximately 1-2 hours). Kneed and let rise a second time (approximately 1 hour). About 45 minutes into the second rise, preheat oven to 450 degrees with dutch oven or cast iron pan inside to preheat.

Don't be jealous of my wood trimmed countertops! 

Lightly kneed dough and form into a ball.

Pull pre-heated pan out of the oven and place a sheet of parchment paper inside. Transfer bread to pan on top of parchment. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with sea salt.

Cover with lid and bake at 450 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. (*Optional: Roast 2 heads of garlic in foil while it bakes.) Remove lid and cook an additional 15-20 minutes until lightly browned on top.

Attempt to resist cutting until cool...or don't and just cut into it. Like me. No judgement here...

Remember that roasted garlic? Mix it into 4-6 T softened butter and spread on sliced bread. Mmmmmm! You're welcome.

The flu and the stomach bug have both been going around locally, so we are trying to get in lots of healthy goodness. This soup and bread with garlic, onion, bone broth and lots of veggies was the perfect way to ward it off...fingers crossed it works! If nothing else, it was a perfect way to end our Valentine's Day...a family meal and delicious food. Everyone loved the bread. And, almost everyone loved the soup...maybe it will grow on Little Farmer G!