WHAT'S UP?

I know it's been a shamefully long time since I've been up here sharing with you the life and times of SAG. It's not as though I've been completely remiss, although I will admit to some laziness. Here are some photos of things to come. Like my sweet sister Mitzie coming to visit from L.A. We toured the tiny town of Sonoia, Georgia. The filming place for the new series "Drop Dead Diva". They call it the Hollywood of the South. Great place to visit as you will see in an upcoming post. Promise.Plenty to see and do in Sonoia if you're into food and antiques and plain old Southern charm. But more about that later.
My Birthday came and went and guess what Sis bought me? My own bread maker. As if I'm not busy enough keeping critters at bay and working. Now she makes me make my own bread. Which by the way has become almost second nature. I'll tell you about it very soon, photos and all. And since Doggie treats are so expensive and since we've mastered the art of making dog food, what was next made sense. A dehydrator to make our own Turkey Jerky, Beef Jerky or as I tried last week, Pork Jerky. I think that's the preferred treat between Dusty and Roman. No preservatives or additives. Just plain old dried meat. Oh, and did I tell you I found a source for FRESH EGGS? No? Well, I will. A fabulous neighbor who has her own chickens and grinds her own WHEAT FLOUR TOO! You see, there's a lot to tell.
Plus, we've managed to find a few more Farmer's Market options for fresh produce and other wonderful things. These are just teaser photos to assure that you'll come back for the rest of the news from SAG. I'm missed you!

SPELT RIGHT!

Okay, now I'm just being a smart-alick! With one or two feeble attempts at bread making under my belt, using recipes that are so incredibly simple a child could do them. I'm on my second batch of whole grain spelt bread, and this time it even looks a little bit like a loaf. I have to say, this is good bread. Dense but moist, and best when toasted, it beats the heck out of having enriched white flour for breakfast every day. This stuff is hearty and it stays with you through the morning. Yesterday I had a piece of it with scrambled Egg Beaters, and I was full for many hours. Perfect!
Of course we had to try it on the Panini grill, and as you can plainly see, it too was a huge success. Sis is talking about getting a bread maker, but why go to the expense when you have me? Next I'll be getting into the Graham flour and with it, will try my hand at muffin making! Very exciting, no? I'm not board or anything, why would you ask?
Here's the recipe in case you too have a little time on your hands:

Be prepared, the Spelt flour is a little expensive, around $6.00 for a 2lb bag, but we pay $3.00 for an average loaf of Artisan bread, and this recipe makes two loafs, so it works out to be about the same.

Ingredients:
8 cups spelt flour
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 tbls molasses
2 tsp baking soda
4 1/4 cups milk
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a large bowl, mix together the spelt flour, sesame seeds, salt, molasses, baking soda and milk until well blended. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes in the preheated oven or until golden. That's it.