Momma Said 5-25 22

By Teri Cayton

The Parsons Advocate

Some of my latest creations include making an over the door spice rack out of a bunk bed ladder and candle sticks from the legs of an old coffee table.  I just love to find things and imagining them as something else.  Momma Said, “There is a method to my madness, I just have to figure out what it is.”

I have been finding some really good pieces just by accident, but they are keeping my creative juices flowing.  I tend to look at things differently these days, so to say, imagining what they can be other than what they are.  I have made a chair into a flowerpot, a ladder into a spice rack and a cabinet drawer into a doggie bed.

I have always loved to paint and I am getting my fair share in the past few weeks.  I love color and that is the best way to brighten a sad and discarded piece of furniture, something different and exciting, a spark of life so to say.  Momma Said, “Everyone can use a little ray of sunshine now and then.”

I think color can transform your day, make you look at life from a different perspective.  So if you have a little piece of furniture in your home that makes you look at the morning in a different light then that is what I am aiming for.  

 Homemade Olive Bread 

Ingredients

• 4 cups bread flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 25g fresh yeast (or 2 ¼ tsp. active dry yeast)
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp.) rosemary
• 1 ½ tsp.) chili flakes
• Fresh thyme leaves
• ⅔ cup green olives, pitted – drained and chopped
• ⅔ cup black olives, pitted – drained and chopped
• 1 1 /2 cups water

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DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl mix flour with salt, garlic powder, rosemary, chili flakes, and fresh thyme leaves.
2. Dissolve the fresh yeast in ½ cup water and add to the flour mixture. Add the rest of 1 cup water and start kneading the dough until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
3. Add olives and knead more until incorporated. Grease with olive oil a clean bowl, transfer the dough and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rest for 2.5 hours at room temperature until tripled in size.
4. On a floured surface flatten the dough into an oval shape and start rolling one edge inward it. Roll and turn upside down and shape it into a ball. Sprinkle flour and cornmeal over a clean towel, add the dough and cover. Let rise for another 30-45 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, turn the oven to 470F (240C) and add a 9 inch (23cm) round iron cast pan inside without the lid. Leave it in the oven for about 30-45 minutes until the dough rises in the towel.
6. Remove the iron cast pan from the oven, turn the dough into the pan and put the lid on. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 470F (240C) with the lid on to create steam.
7. Remove the lid and bake for another 20 minutes at 440F (230C) to let the bread get some crispy golden brown crust.
8. Let it cool completely before cutting the bread.