Sour is good.
I baked the other day. It wasn’t my worst baking hour, and not my best either. The other day we picked up yeast, King Arthur All-Purpose Flour, and King Arthur Bread Flour. About a year ago I got rid of a sour I’d been holding onto that was long neglected and gone. At the same time I made cinnamon rolls. And now I’m going to make sourdough cinnamon rolls because the depth of flavor is just gorgeous. I’m going to be patient and wait a few days before making them. I want to give the sour a chance to do it’s thing.
This. is. hard. because sourdough.
I’d forgotten how much I enjoy baking. How much I’ve enjoyed baking since I was seven. When you forget how much you enjoy something it’s been a long time, and the experience has me giddy with excitement. As I kneaded dough yesterday my sweetie and I had a funny conversation.
Him, “you can go use the table if it would be easier.
Me, “the table is higher than the counter.”
Him, “but it might be easier on the table.”
Me, “the counter is too high for me as it is.”
Me, “our next house will have a counter that is comfortable for me to chop and knead at (read lower than the height of our current counter)”
Him, “our next house will have two different cutting/working stations, one for you and one for me.”
Now that we know the beginnings of our next kitchen.
When teaching machine quilting students frequently hear, “your shoulders and ears are not one body part.” In kneading and rolling dough those words flitted through my consciousness. The shoulders kept creeping up to my ears. In part due to the height of the counter, and in part due to putting my whole self into kneading that dough. But oh my goodness the garlic knots and pizza were so good. Food, like a quilt, is a physical, enjoyable moment. Quilts last longer. Eating something I’ve made well is so good. Food is made for sustenance, and for pleasure.
Quilters and food pair well together. There is something amazing about the communal aspect of both, there is a generosity inherent in both. Any gathering of more than a few hours will have some kind of food involved. I love to bake so often I’ll bring something sweet to the party.
I’ll be heading into my studio today to work on a purse and wallet for me. It’s so fun. I hope to finish and get photos today, as tomorrow I’m going to AEF’s concert with the Yonkers Philharmonic. It’s Aria day, this is a first as far as I know. I’m looking forward to participating in the concert.
In working on both the baking and the stuff for Generation Q Magazine the idea of the show quilt is coming into focus. To have these ideas whizzing and whirling around my brain is kind of fantastic. It’s been a long drought and the flowing creativity is refreshing and renewing. Creativity sometimes lands you right in a desert for many reasons. I do love deserts, there is so much life there.
So, now that I’ve covered quilting, food, and touched on creative deserts the studio is calling and I must answer.
I’ll be back with more on the creative desert and the great joy in creating now.
Happy Quilting,
Teri
