Our one small change this month is to meet our food sources. It can be really vexing to know where to start but it seems that the easiest place is by reading the food labels of the things we eat. A great and humorous guide to all of this is Michael Pollan's "Food Rules", one of which is "If a third grader can't pronounce it, you shouldn't be eating it."
We have cleaned our pantry,which was pretty clean to begin with, and introduced the kids to our local market which sells only organic food and much of it local.
Though we have taken many food journeys over the last two weeks, the one that is sticking out for me now is bread baking. About a year ago I purchased a book called,"5 Minute Bread". Mimi really wanted to give this a try and for the most part we have been baking our bread. There is something about freshly baked bread which makes it disappear quickly. At times I haven't been able to keep up with the demand.
I usually use King Arthur unbleached flour but while we were at "The Market" I noticed that there was a local choice, and that is stoned ground flour from "The Old Mill".
In the early 1800's, a water-powered gristmill on the banks of the Little Pigeon River became one of the main hubs of activity in the small mountain community of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. In those days, the mill faithfully produced the meals and flours that were crucial for the day-to-day existence of the Smokies' early settlers. In fact, The Old Mill even furnished electricity for the town until 1935.
One of The Old Mill's most distinctive features is the giant water wheel that harnesses the flow of the Little Pigeon River. Inside the structure, an antiquated yet reliable system of shafts, belts, and pulleys still gets the job done, working to turn the 4600-pound stones and grain elevators.
Weighing one ton each, the massive flint granite stones, called French Buhrs, are only the second set ever used in The Old Mill's 175-year history. When they're in action, the stones convert grain into about 1000 pounds of product each day, six days a week. Resident millers then hand-fill, weigh and tie each bag of stone ground grain.
With the "5 Minute" Bread book we are really able to have quick and good homemade bread without the extreme daily labor. It is so simple that anyone in this house is able to mix up a batch of dough for the next day. This one small change has brought us not only great bread but many happy moments in the kitchen together.
