Call me crazy, but I’m writing this in my should-be nap time. 7am saw the wood burning oven already lit, dough rising for some 80 (giant!) cinnamon buns plus the usual dozen loaves of sourdough, tables being set up out front, and a grand collection of coffee pots taking up the kitchen. Why, you may ask? All for Good Samaritan of Haiti, inc–the charity that Mandy runs in Ille A Vache, Haiti–as a fundraising effort for the school, adult literacy programs, and more. Well, we have a good many cinnamon buns left over, but overall it was quite a success, with a table of Haitian art and knicknacks…
I resume, later. The cinnamon buns have all gone away, along with much bread, many cookies, etc. A mysterious chicken adventure happened in the meantime; a visiting small dog, Ms Mocha of Cruzan Gardens, decided to chase my slow, plumpy red hen across the garden towards the house, thereupon entirely disappearing said hen for some time, leaving poor Mocha running in circles, quite as confused as I was myself. I’m glad to report that the hen showed up unscathed in good time to be tucked in for the night. The chicks, also, have new adventures, thanks to a donation of window screens to let daylight into their brood box. This was deemed necessary after one of the chicks “flew the coop”, quite literally, several days ago, and then got stuck between the coop, the wall, and an overly interested Zozo! Quite the week in Nidulari’s chicken world.
The upper story of the Nid is progressing much more quickly than I had anticipated, with a most efficient system of mixing, hoisting, arranging scaffolding, and of course plastering. The upper front walls are 3/4 finished, so by mid morning on Monday we’ll be working around to the back walls and the loft roof! Weather permitting. The “day of rest” has been abolished until at least the end of the year, so tomorrow holds in store for me a lengthy struggle with a masonry drill, pvc pipe, and accompanying goos and fittings. Having running water may be worth it in the end?
I had a breakthrough on the sourdough bread this week. Due to time constraints I messed around with the recipe for my white sourdough, combining my usual recipe with an old no-knead method that I had previously used for single-loaf batches. The result is rather pleasing (to me, at least), with a chewy, open texture and crust, and a stronger sourdough tang; somewhat reminiscent of a San Francisco sourdough. So, if you’d thought that the white sourdough was boring (I did!), try it again and you may well be pleasantly surprised. Nidulari shortbread cookies are quickly becoming a new favourite, so keep an eye out for them at the Locally Grown market in F’sted on Wednesdays, and at Cruzan Garden’s new FarmStore corner throughout the week!
My mind refuses to stay focused any longer, so that is all, my friends. ‘Til next week!
Nidulari 
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