Wednesday, February 9, 2011

A New Baby Monkey in the Garden!!!!

Hello hello hello,
It's a fantastically crisp evening out here in Nicola Valley.
We went for our first really nice walk today in the brilliant sunshine with our new best friend- our little baby girl Luna!!!
Life has taken such a wonderful joyful little turn the past few days- we're loving how our little family is growing here. Luna Moon-Sprout Coutts-MacArthur was born just the other morning- January 28th at 3:05 in the morning- an Aquarius baby to join our little home of two Geminis and a Pisces.....
We were in Kamloops a few days ago on Thursday for an appointment with one of our Midwives- Tatania. All that day Brandie had been having minor cramping going on- we weren't sure if it was dinner at a restaurant the night before and the coconut milk ice cream that we snuck into the movies, or if this was the early beginnings of labour. Tatania thought that it was just some early stage cramping that could be the beginnings of a couple of weeks preceding labour (Luna's predicted due date was February 9th).
A little while out of Kamloops we decided to visit the Savannah 'Free Store' as we call it (we've been informed it's the dump- though very organized and clean). We collected a few Christmas trees for the goats (trees that folks had wild-cut), some tidy thick wire and fencing, and a couple of broken down freezers (which we'll have drained of freon, and will use for either grain storage or filling with soil and planting in as part of our 'ReUse It' Garden). Brandie's cramps at this poing starting seeming to her more like contractions.
As we were driving home, I recalled how a friend had mentioned that babies always come with the moon (there's always a moon of course. She had meant a full moon- then how could you explain that there are babies born every day...). I joked that the cramps were either from the 'Luna and Larry's' Ice Cream we'd enjoyed, or labour was beginning a couple of weeks early. We were still in disbelief that labour was coming shortly.... We had a couple of friends coming for dinner that night- surely the timing wouldn't be that festivities and birthing were to coincide.
The contractions were starting to come on stronger when we got home. We phoned up our other Midwife Joanna and told her how things were going. She suggested that Brandie take a bath and to let her know when the contractions were a minute long each with four minutes between them for a whole hour. Brandie got into the bath with these ever-stronger contractions. Char started timing them over a half-hour period- they were already a minute long and three minutes apart!!! Baby was coming fast. It was time to phone up Joanna.
By this time my longtime school friend Tyson and our organic Farmer friend Urs from Quail's Farm had arrived. They didn't quite know what to think when I calmly mentioned that Brandie was in the bathtub going into labour and that I was casually finishing up the dinner that Char had started. 'Remain Calm'- this definitely was the most important thing that we've learned over the last nine months of reading books and talking with midwives and mothers.
The night progressed. The birth tub that we'd picked up in Kamloops (just that morning, along with all of the other birth supplies) was inflated and filled with a salty brine- portuguese ocean water.... Tyson went home, Urs went to bed, the Midwives arrived, Char went to sleep.
Brandie dealt with the contractions as they came- we would make low gutteral noises to keep in the 'Primal State' and keep relaxed. Brandie would sleep between contractions, and take sips from a bendy straw of water and labour aid beverage, like a boxer between bouts. Cold damp towels would be rested on her forehead to keep her from overheating. She would go from the bathroom into the birth tub- now in our living room with a roaring fire. The heat was up to thirty-four degrees and the walls were sweating.
Joanna and Tatania were mostly keeping to themselves, letting it all progress naturally. Every so often they would check baby's heartbeat and make a few notes.
The contractions got stronger and stronger. Finally there were some membranes that had come out- looking like JellyFish floating about. I would hold Brandie up and she would muster all of her energy to push. Joanna finally said that the next contraction would bring out baby's body. 'Baby's body?' I thought... I didn't realize that her head was already out, that the membranes were just covering her. Finally with a great push little Luna swam out into the water and came up to the surface and onto Brandie's belly, all pink and lovely! Our lovely little baby- unbelievably real- here and now! A real baby girl had been growing inside of Brandie all along!
The rest of the night was a continuation of delerium. The placenta came out after a half hour of mom and baby sharing and staring at one another (causing a natural release of the Oxytocin- the 'Love Hormone' which causes a natural expulsion of the placenta). We laughed and cried and felt love radiating all about.
Sometime shortly after Luna was born, the moon came radiating out in the sky from among the clouds, a half-crescent moon glowing yellowish orange.
Hours went by until light crept in through the window. During that time Luna was checked all over, delicately weighed in a cloth (7 pounds, one ounce), she was measured, temperature taken and all of that. Much cleanup happened over that time- the midwives were really wonderful with leaving Brandie, Luna and I in our exhausted states and taking charge in reducing the carnage. Still over the next couple of days the house seemed as if a raucous party had happened!
A couple of days have passed and we're really getting into the groove of being mom and dad. Our lives are perfectly suited to having Luna with us. Wintertime is slow on the farm, and our usual routine hasn't changed too much. We're still reading, making food and smoothies, keeping the fire going, looking after our animal friends, taking walks (no hikes up the mountain for a while), playing piano..... We haven't played any board games the past few evenings but have instead opted for watching films from the library- it's warm in the living room and we're all a little sleepy.
Brandie's energy is increasing all the time. She's recovering amazingly well, and is going along with all of the changes that her body is going through. We're absolutely thrilled to be here now- with no desire to go anywhere.
Life is fantastic. Our world has just been expanded incredibly. We're loving being parents.
Peace and Love,
Michael, Brandie, Luna, and Char Monkeys

Sourdough Rye Bread Take Two

Observational Sourdough Rye Bread Making….

Why Sourdough Bread? Sourdough bread (and other traditional fermented breads and grain dishes) have been the long-term traditional methods for preparing grains for as long as grains have been cultivated. Within all grains (and nuts, legumes, seeds) there exist something called Phytic Acid. When we consume these foods in their whole, unrefined form (like in yeasted bread, or a simple cooked pot of grains, or nuts out of hand), our body gets depleted of such important minerals as calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper, and iron. This leads to all sorts of problems including tooth decay, loss of bone density, eventual food intolerances to name a few….
When we make traditional sourdough bread (or soak our grains, beans, or nuts for at least 24 hours in water with something acidic- apple cider vinegar, yogurt or kefir, lemon juice- or unrefined salt with nuts and seeds), we neutralize the deleterious effects of the phytic acid. Now prepare these foods as usual. The nutritional profile of these foods increases, as well as flavour complexity, and digestibility. The food tastes better, is better for our health, and keeps longer (sourdough rye bread lasts for weeks)- isn’t this what we all want?

For more info and traditional preparation of all sorts of foods and beverages- check out ‘Nourishing Traditions’ by Sally Fallon, and ‘Wild Fermentation’ by Sandor Elix Katz
For a great article on Sourdough Rye Bread- check out Paul Pitchford’s ‘Healing With Whole Foods’ and the article ‘The Bounty of Rye’ by Jacques de Langes

Sourdough Rye Bread Recipe: (with a bonus flatbread recipe! WOW!)

For this particular batch of Sourdough Rye (every batch is different- this is the beauty of bread-making- allow this recipe to teach you the method for making the bread and adapt it to your particular likes and moods), a pumpkinseed loaf, the sourdough culture was revived from the fridge for a couple of days only, which created not so ‘bubbly’ of a loaf- a characteristic that we’d enjoyed on the previous batch when the sourdough starter had been being fed continuously for at least a week. The more active the starter- the better the bread!

Nonetheless this bread is delicious. We enjoy it every single day as a thinly sliced and toasted delight with an assortment of toppings: nut butters, goat cheese melts, salmon and soft cheese with sprouts, or just grass-fed organic butter with unrefined sea salt.

For eleven pounds of bread- in this case, three loaves weighing three pounds each, and two single pound loaves for sharing. Here is the ingredient list.

For the Sponge:
1250 mL active Sourdough Starter (or more)
4.5 cups organic whole rye flour (freshly ground ideally)
6 cups non-chlorinated water (we use mineral rich well water- cultured whey is also excellent)
1 heaping Tablespoon of Whole Caraway Seeds
1 cup of organic pumpkin seeds (or sunflower or sesame or any nuts)
a Drizzle of organic fair-trade unsulphured Black Strap Molasses

For the Bread:
15 ¼ cups of organic whole rye flour (or more, or less)
one Tablespoon Unrefined Sea Salt (coarse is best)

Sourdough Culture (Starter):
First you need to make some sourdough starter. Start with the freshest, highest quality organic whole rye flour- freshly milled is best. We mill our flour fresh- consider purchasing a mill. You can then grind flour fresh from any grain you so desire, as much or as little as you need. When flour is ground, most of the nutritional value is lost within two weeks as the flour oxidizes (consider how old most flour in the store is). You also can check out the quality of the whole grain before grinding it. The grain mill will eventually pay for itself as you’ll be able to save money by buying bulk whole unrefined grains at a fraction of the price of flour. We get most of our certified organic whole grains through Fieldstone Granary in Armstrong- they offer top quality organic grains sourced primarily from the Okanagan and BC, then Alberta, and finally Saskatchewan (no out of country grains). They also offer legumes, unrefined livestock salt, kelp, and more.

On with the sourdough starter. Take one cup of rye flour and stir it in with one cup of non-chlorinated water. Mix it together in a non-reactive bowl (a large ceramic bowl is ideal, especially if you plan to make bread regularly, though glass, or wood would work as well). Cover it with a cotton cloth and keep it in a room-temperature spot away from any drafts. Then every day for at least a week, mix in another cup of flour and another cup of water. Within a few days, your flour/water mixture will trap some wild yeasts that will proliferate and create a wonderfully sour and bubbly dough. You can now keep your sourdough culture going for as long as you desire- ours is now four years old, and there are some sourdoughs throughout Europe that have been kept alive for more than a century! The sourdough culture gets much better with time- better flavour and activity.
When we get an overabundance of sourdough culture it’s usually time to make bread! If there’s more than we need, we package some of it up in pint or quart jars, labeled in the fridge- for future use. To revive sourdough from the fridge, take it out, let it warm up for five or ten minutes, then start feeding it as usual. It keeps for months this way. If you’re still getting overwhelmed- consider making these simple flatbreads (similar to Ethiopian Injera or South Indian Dosas): Heat a cast-iron pan over medium heat, wipe it with oil, and pour about ¼ to 1/3 cup of pure sourdough starter in to the pan, form it like a crepe, sprinkle it with unrefined salt. When the stickiness cooks off the top (a couple of minutes), flip it and cook it for a minute or so longer. Delicious and tangy- great for wrapping up stuff like cheese and sprouts or eggs or with soup or stew!

Now that you have your sourdough culture alive and kicking, it’s time to make bread!

The day or night before bread making day, you need to start your sponge. In your large non-reactive (not metal!) bowl, mix up your starter, the water or whey, the molasses, the caraway seeds, the pumpkin seeds, and the flour. Simple. Cover it with your cotton cloth, and keep it in a warmish place.
The next morning or before lunch is the time to make the bread. Add your tablespoon of unrefined, coarse sea salt. Add the rest of your flour, one cup at a time, stirring it with a stiff spoon and eventually with your hand (it’s actually easier to skip the spoon and just use your hand). Mix it up until it’s extremely stiff and sticky like peanut butter (the hard to spread kind!). Scrape as much dough off your hands as you can, cover the bowl of dough, and go busy yourself for a half hour, or an hour, or two. This is the vitally important proofing period- it allows the dough to rest- making it so simple to work with. If you don’t have the patience to let your dough proof, you’ll drive yourself crazy and declare that rye bread is the hardest bread to make (when it’s in fact the easiest!)
After your little break, come back to the dough and scrape it out onto a thickly floured surface. Knead it a little to incorporate the flour and reduce the stickiness. Now you can slice or break off balls of dough- weigh them if you like or not. We divided this batch into two single pound loaves and three three pounders.
With each ball of dough, knead it and work the flour in until you get a smooth, cohesive dough and can form it into your desired shape- with the less cracks in it the better. Each loaf shouldn’t need more than a few minutes- don’t worry about intensive kneading.- just enough to form them. Put your loaves into baking trays or loaf pans- we use glass casserole dishes, well floured, making sure that the loaves aren’t touching. You can then make a slit about ½ centimeter thick into the top of each loaf (this allows for expansion during rising, with less blow outs from the bottom or side of the loaf). Cover the loaves with damp cotton towels, and put them into a warm, draft free spot (we like to put them over a vent on the upper floor above our woodstove with a box over them to hold in the heat- in summer you can use the greenhouse). Let the loaves rise for the rest of the day- eight hours or so, overnight if you forget about them….)
Time to bake your bread: Put a dish of hot water in the bottom of the oven (to create steam). Put your trays into the oven and turn the heat up to 415 degrees Fahrenheit. After ten minutes or so- after the oven gets to temperature, turn it down to 350 degrees. Bake the loaves for about 35 to 40 minutes- check them when you can smell them. You can tell when they’re done by taking a loaf and tapping it on the bottom- if it sounds hollow- they’re done. Pop your loaves out of the dishes, put them on cooling racks, cover them with cloths, and let them cool completely (overnight works good.). Then you can store your loaves in paper bags in side of clean plastic bags- the paper whisks away moisture and the plastic keeps them from totally drying out. Slice your bread thin, toast it up, and enjoy it for weeks on end. Yum.

Come check out our amazing restaurant seasonal, all organic restaurant ‘Monkey in the Garden’. We’re located in the Nicola Valley on Highway #8 (8km from Spences Bridge, 60 or so km from Merrit). Our amazing restaurant is open every Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 7pm, June through September. We grow of our heirloom and open pollinated veggies and fruits, herbs and flour on site at our STOPA certified ‘Mountain Monkeys Organic Delights’ farm. Our menu is ever-changing with what’s in season in the gardens. We serve up delicious breakfasts (with happy eggs), goat’s milk lattés (with organic ‘Coquihala Coffee’ roasted just 2 kms down the road), amazing whey-based soups, sandwiches, sourdough pizzas, handmade pastas, stuffed veggie dishes, curries, handmade goat’s cheeses, delectable desserts (with in season fruit and sprouted spelt flour)- every weekend offers a new exciting menu- with everything produced from scratch with the highest quality, unrefined organic ingredients! Our restaurant is completely wheat-free and yeast free, with no refined foods!
We also home deliver from our extensive menu of frozen prepared dishes, preserves, fresh baking, lacto-fermented pickles, tinctures, and much more. We make periodic deliveries through the year to Vancouver & the lower Mainland, Kelowna, Kamloops, and Ashcroft.
Check out our amazing website www.monkeyinthegarden.com and email us at thegourmetmonkey@gmail.com for our current menu and next delivery date!
Peace,
Michael, Brandie, Luna, & Char Monkeys