But now, with just a little planning and foresight, fresh baked bread is as easy as, well, this is a whole lot easier than pie!

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (I use whole wheat, but all-purpose or any other variety will work), plus more for dusting

1/4 teaspoon yeast

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 5/8 cups warm water

optional: I have thrown in a handful of rosemary, I have tossed in sunflower, poppy, and sesame seeds, I have sprinkled in Italian herbs, and I have mixed in kalamata olives. The possibilities are endless; customize to taste!

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients until thoroughly mixed.  Dough should be shaggy.  Shaggy is a *really* great way of describing dough.

Cover dough with a pot lid or dish towel, and put it in a warm place to rest.  I usually hide mine in a cupboard.  Let the dough hang out for a good 12-20 hours.  Yep, 12-20 hours.

The next day, check your dough.  It’s ready when the surface shows tiny bubbles. Spread some flour on a cutting board or counter, and turn the dough out onto the surface.  With floured hands, fold the dough over onto itself (like a dough taco), and then fold it again (double dough taco?).  Let it rest there for about 15 minutes, and then cover it with a cotton dishtowel (non-terry cloth).  Let it rise under the towel for about 2 hours.  The dough is done when it has doubled in size, and no longer springs back when depressed.

A half hour or so before the dough is done rising, preheat the oven to 450º.  With floured hands, transfer the dough to a lightly sprayed or floured cast iron, enamel, Pyrex, or ceramic pot – one that has a tight-fitting lid.  (Warning: DO NOT use teflon-coated or glass bakeware.  Teflon cannot stand this heat, and will make stinky smoky awefulness.  The first time I made this recipe I used a glass dish.  As I was leaning over to sniff my bread straight out of the oven, the glass dish literally shattered in my face, because it cooled too quickly sitting on top of the hot oven.  Don’t risk it!  Use Pyrex.)  Cover the pot with the lid and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the lid, and bake another 15-20 minutes, until loaf is well browned.  Cool on a wire rack, or eat hot with lots of Earthbalance™, mmmmmmm.

I don’t actually have any pictures of a finished loaf, because it never sticks around long enough to to be photographed!  But I hope you enjoy, and get as much use out of this recipe as I have.  Homemade bread, containing only the simplest and purest ingredients, is truly a heart- and belly-warming treat.  

Growing up in southern California, I must admit that I took for granted the exotic produce that sprouted like weeds across the arid terrain.  An orange grove in every park (free for snacking), a lime tree on every apartment patio (to accompany Corona), and a lemon tree in every backyard (beware the thorns!).  I truly did not understand the treasure chest that was the avocado tree, ever heavy with fruit, in my own front yard.

Of course, every region has it’s own amazing gifts from the ground.  In the Northwest we have apples, and I certainly didn’t appreciate the divine pleasure of a perfectly ripe, perfectly crisp, perfect fresh heirloom apple, until I lived here.  Back home I ate over bred apples out of supermarket bins and considered them mundane, such a boring fruit.  But here!  Here is where I experienced the near-religious bliss that accompanies the first crunch of a Honeycrisp apple, fresh from the orchard.  Marvelous!

So I have traded avocados for apples and I fancy that fair, but boy, I do miss the citrus.  Those familiar warm hues that whisper ‘hey, there’s a bright light at the end of this cold tunnel’.  Citrus season comes in the dead of winter, and what relief it is to savor that juicy flesh that hints at sun and summertime.  I think I appreciate citrus more here, in its scarcity, than I ever did back home when it was everywhere.  Such is the quirk of life, I suppose.

Tangerines are always my top citrus pick.  For these cupcakes, I wanted to offer an enlivening winter dessert, and add an unexpected, earthy element to the palate.  Tangerine for tradition, with a hint of cumin that perfectly anchors the acid of the mandarin and the sweetness of the icing.  These turned out beautifully, and were a resounding hit at the annual Winter Solstice party.  I expect they’ll become a seasonal staple in the Rebhal household.

Ingredients:

1 cup soymilk

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 heaping teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup canola oil

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

3 tablespoons  fresh tangerine juice

2-4 tablespoons tangerine zest (as much as possible)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350º.  Whisk together the soymilk and vinegar in a small bowl, and set aside to curdle. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cumin, and salt, mixing thoroughly. In a separate bowl, beat the oil, sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, and tangerine juice.  Add in the soymilk solution and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and gently process until no large lumps remain. Fold in the tangerine zest, reserving enough to decorate. Fill an oiled or lined cupcake pan, evenly distributed, and bake 20-25 minutes.  Makes 12 cupcakes.

For the Icing:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons softened vegan butter

All juice and all zest from one lemon

Beat all of these furiously in a bowl until you get a nice whipped frosting.  If too runny, add more sugar.  If too solid, add more lemon or a splash of soymilk.  Spread over completely cooled cupcakes, sprinkling with cumin and zest. 

Then, let the dogs help with the clean up.