Rustic Sourdough With Spelt

Rustic Sourdough

Makes: 2 medium, or 3 small loaves

Time: Day 1: Elaborate starter. Day 2: Mix final dough, fold dough shape, proof, and bake.

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Elaborate your starter however you choose, but ending up with the same flour and water weights. (or make a commercial yeast preferment) Allow it to rise overnight.
2. The next day cream the starter with the water and oil for the recipe.
3. Mix together the flours, salt, and any other dry ingredients you are adding, then mix in the starter, water, and oil til the dough just starts to come together. It will be very wet, don’t expect it to form much of a ball. Let the dough sit covered in the bowl for 20 minutes
4. Liberally dust your counter or work space and scrape the dough out. With lightly floured hands, give the dough a stretch and fold and place it seam side down in a lightly oiled bowl.
5. Leave the bowl covered for 40 minutes to an hour, turn the dough out (seam side up) and give it another stretch and fold, then return it to the bowl. Repeat this process one more time after 40 minutes to an hour.
6. Let the dough rise until nearly doubled, and turn it out again onto your work surface.
7. Prepare well floured brotforms, or heavily flour a towel you can use for the final proofing of tgh bread. Treating the dough gently, seperate it into however many pieces you want loaves. Do a letter fold on the dough, along the long side, bringing the bottom and top thirds into the middle and then move the loaf to the prepared towel or brotform. (seam side up)
8. Leave the loaves, covered, to proof, for me this was about an hour and a half.
9. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees with your baking stone (on the top or top middle rack) and steam pan inside and heat 2 cups of water to just shy of boiling.
10. Very gently grab loaves rising on a towel, and as you move them to the peel or parchment paper, invert them so the seam side is down and stretch them to nearly twice their length. The dough may deflate quite a bit, don’t worry it will rise back up in the oven. If using brotforms, just invert the loaves onto parchment or a peel. Load the loaves into the oven and carefully pour the hot water into the steam pan. Be careful of the window and light bulbs in your oven
11. Bake for 10 minutes, turn loaves 180 degrees and remove parchment paper if using. Continue baking for another 10-20 minutes. Be careful of the top of the loaf, the top rack position and high temperature can cause it to burn quickly. However, this bread is intended to be baked very dark on top, as long as the WHOLE top isn’t black and crispy you’re probably okay! Remove finished loaves to a cooling rack and let sit for at least 1 hour before cutting.

Those instructions may have made it seem more complex than it is, but this really just: barely mix, fold, fold, fold, divide, shape, proof, and bake! This dough takes really well to modifications, like other flours, increasing the whole grain flour (up to about double what is included), adding seeds, herbs, or small amounts of any other flavorful ingredient. I baked some of this to take in to work and ended up eating nearly a third of one of the loaves before I could stop myself, the creamy crumb, crispy crust, and flavor are very addicting! And I cannot recommend that black garlic enough, if you can find it… It is definitely worth including in bread! If not roasted garlic can probably somewhat substitute.

And this is, of course, my weekly submission to YeastSpotting!

Now for some pictures:

Rustic Sourdough With Spelt

Rustic Sourdough With Spelt

Rustic Sourdough With Spelt

Rustic Sourdough With Spelt

Rustic Sourdough With Sesame Seeds and Chinese 5 Spice

Rustic Sourdough With Black Garlic and Sage and Teff Flour

Rustic Sourdough With Black Garlic and Sage and Teff Flour

Immunity supporting foods

Swine flu fears have fuelled a demand for immunity boosting products in many countries, and it is likely we could see ingredients like various antioxidants, beta-glucans and botanicals such as elderberry marketed on this premise in 2010.

Even though companies cannot talk about the flu virus when talking about their ingredients or products, the current global fear over the swine flu pandemic will boost interest in all ingredients and products touting immune-support properties. But if you are into good old fashioned nutrition then just eat onions,  garlic and shitake mushrooms for their immunity supporting benefits.

Natural sweeteners – stevia, agave, maple syrup

Stevia from South America is a zero calorie natural sweetener not yet licensed in the UK but on trial in France. It can currently be used for medicinal use in the UK. European wide approval is on the horizon.

Stevia tastes up to 300 times sweeter than sugar without providing calories and as an alternative to sugar it could help with weight management. We will also see an increasing demand for other alternative sweeteners extracted from sources such as apple, agave and maple syrup. These natural, healthier sweeteners will become much more mainstream as sugar alternatives.

Food simplicity – “back to basics”

The downturn is making people nostalgic for simpler times, and simpler foods. In 2010 we will see more food simplicity driven by the demand for natural and clean-label foods.

Consumers are reaching out for cleaner foods free from chemicals and unnatural ingredients. They want to know what’s in their food and they want cleaner food labels:  no artificial food colorings (some of which have been linked to hyperactivity in children), no chemical additives (such as MSG) and no chemical preservatives (such as BHA).  If they can’t pronounce it, consumers won’t want it.

Eco nutrition and conscious nutrition

As we approach 2010 another big trend to watch out for is `eco nutrition’. Health conscious consumers will continue to grow in numbers but will increasingly question the link between food, diet and the environment and combine their passion for food and nutrition with conscious consumerism. They will not only regularly seek out nutritious food as part of their daily buying behaviours, but these products mustn’t exploit the environment or the communities from which they came.  

For example a consumer may be searching for high a quality organic dark chocolate because of the touted health benefits, however their purchasing decision will also be influenced by how and where the cocoa in the chocolate was sourced i.e. its provenance, how the workers were treated, whether those farming communities benefited if at all and how much C02 was produced.  The food industry will continue to step up in this respect by using more responsibly sourced ingredients from communities which are treated responsibly and by reducing carbon emissions etc. We will see conscious consumerism for healthy, sustainable food products becoming an increasingly mainstream behaviour.

Ancient grains – modern market rediscoveries make a comeback

We will see more ancient grains like amaranth, buckwheat, spelt, quinoa, chia, and rye in 2010. Whole grains have received so much attention in the nutrition world for their heart-healthy benefits and this popularity is opening up doors to lesser known ancient grains which have been around for much longer but people forgot them.

  .

The use of less processed ancient grains addresses the concern that today’s foods are over processed and consumers do want fresh, natural unprocessed foods. Ancient grains also provide a great alternative to the growing numbers of consumers who are wheat intolerant.

• Amaranth -  has a malty taste and can be popped like corn. The pre-Colombian Indians believed it had supernatural powers. Its certainly very nutritious.
• Chia – high in protein and fibre, the Aztecs called it “running food” and used it for nourishment on long trecks .  Mila, the best of chia will be launched into the UK in 2010          
• Buckwheat -  an excellent alternative to rice or porridge, and its flour has a mild flavour good for buckwheat pancakes
• Spelt – a nutty flavour and dates back before even wheat. It can be used in many of the same ways as wheat, it has a broader spectrum of nutrients and it is a great substitute
• Rye - a rich flavour and a favourite for making bread. Rich in manganese, fibre, selenium, tryptophan, phosphorus, magnesium and protein
• Quinoa – a Peruvian grain once considered the “gold of the Incas” because its high protein content which gave warriors stamina

Healthy indulgence – raw chocolate

Raw chocolate is one of the world’s fastest growing health foods and provides a concentrated source of antioxidants. We will see more raw chocolate products hitting the shelves in 2010 as consumers indulge themselves with cheap, healthy treats they can afford in order to keep their spirits high. Raw chocolate is a health food and a great alternative to cheap, mass produced, low cocoa content chocolate. It’s full of magnesium which is nature’s tranquiliser. 

Local butchers make a comeback

The re-emergence of the local butcher will be another major trend in 2010 for the high street as well as within supermarkets.  This is because shoppers are more conscious about where their meat comes from and are choosier about selecting the best, healthiest, leanest cuts and have it ground on demand.  The popularity of the local butcher is also fuelled by our desire to supporting local enterprises vs. supermarket giants.

Dora Walsh

Head Nutritionist

www.nutriheal.net

firstly, let me state that micheal pollan’s book omnivore’s dilemma changed my life when i    read it exactly two years ago. if you have not read it- ask for it for xmas or hanukkah… or just because.  this post has nothing to do with the book, other than stealing the title… But it is about yummy food for omnivores.

i am usually happy with simple rice + veggies + beans or tempeh for dinner (in a few different variations that suit this single gal just fine).  but sometimes i want to impress my omnivorous friends with some hearty vegan goodness.  and now that it is winter (well, y’know… hawaii winter) i want to make cozy foods, and this dinner is one of the coziest i can imagine: grilled smokey herbed seitan and mashed sweet + red potatoes with mushroom gravy, plus some simple farm greens and roasted carrots on the side.

mushroom gravy (from vegan fusion world  cuisine by the blossoming lotus. this recipe is actually called avalon’s magic mushroom gravy- and ALL the names for their recipes are goofy like that).

1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onion (i used mostly shallots and just a bit of onion)
¾ cup shitake mushrooms (sliced very thin) (see note: i used ½ cup more mushrooms- 6 medium-sized)
1½ tbsp minced fresh garlic
2 cups water
¼ cup soy sauce
pinch of each nutmeg, black pepper, and cayenne pepper

roux*
2 tbsp spelt flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp water

Create a roux by placing spelt flour in a small bowl. Add 2 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp water and whisk into a thick paste; set aside.

Place 1 tbsp of olive oil and a large pan on medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add remaining ingredients except the roux and cook for 5 more minutes on low heat; finally, add the roux and cook until gravy has a thick consistency, approximately 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

*a note: though i followed the recipe perfectly, the gravy did not have a thick consistency and the flavor was not what i remembered it to be.  i did two things to remedy this issue.  firstly, i mixed up some organic cornstarch (about 2 tbsp with 1 tbsp water) and added to the bowl of gravy, then i chopped up a few extra mushrooms, sauteed them in a bit of olive oil until wilted.  i added the gravy with cornstarch to the hot pan and let it simmer for about five more minutes.  i then blended everything in the food processor the make it even creamier (and i really don’t like mushroom chunks).  then it was JUST PERFECT!

Hi all,

Hope you are thriving and eating local, seasonal treats like this one:

Here is a recipe for Pumpkin Pecan Pie. I also taught this pie with a gluten-free pie crust recently when I taught a gluten-free cooking and baking class at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health.

At the end of this post is also another gluten-free pie crust that you can mix and match with this pie filling or any pie filling you like. That is the fun of “Going Wild in the Kitchen” my cookbook and approach to cooking and baking: Creativity!

by the way, if you are looking for cooking classes, or giving the gift of an autographed copy of my Going Wild in the Kitchen, please email me at leslie@lesliecerier.com or go to my website: www.lesliecerier.com

Now here’s the delicious recipe:
Reprinted from Going Wild in the Kitchen by Leslie Cerier
A cheese pumpkin is a cross between a butternut squash and a pumpkin. It is sweeter than a pumpkin, and almost as sweet as butternut squash. This pie is like 2 pies in one: pecan and pumpkin.

Serves 6-8

Pie crust and see below for another pie crust from Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook due out this summer.

2 cups spelt flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup + 1 teaspoon canola oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla or ½ teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Pie filling
1 small cheese pumpkin (about 2 pounds) baked, peeled and seeded (becomes 2 cups)
¾ cup pecans
3 tablespoons maple sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rinse cheese pumpkin and bake on a baking dish for about an hour, or until tender.
2. Mix all the piecrust ingredients in a bowl except 1-teaspoon oil.
3. Lightly brush 9-inch pie pan with 1 teaspoon oil.
4. Press dough with your fingers into pie plate.
5. Poke holes in dough with a fork.
6. Bake for 10 minutes.
7. Put the pecans in a food processor and grind into a meal.
8. When the cheese pumpkin is ready, peel, seed it, and add 2 cups to the food processor with the pecans. Add maple sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and puree together.
9. Adjust the seasonings, if desired.
10. Pour the sweetened pumpkin filling into the baked pie crust.
11. Bake for 5 minutes. Turn off oven and let pie sit for 10 minutes before removing to blend flavors.

Variations
Replace the cheese pumpkin with 2 cups cooked pumpkin or butternut squash.

Here is a new piecrust recipe from my upcoming cookbook, Gluten-free Recipes for the Conscious Cook
1 1/2 cups raw hazelnuts
2 tablespoons hazelnut oil or melted coconut oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

To make the crust, put the hazelnuts in a food processor and blend until finely ground, like flour. Add the oil, maple syrup, and salt, and pulse to form the dough. Press into oiled pie crust and in above pie crust recipe.

Super easy and super good and this one is gluten-free. In the new cookbook, this is the crust for a Chocolate Mousse Pie.

www.Lesliecerier.com

I was recently cooking for a group of young Russian NGO – people. Vegetarian food was quite clearly a new concept for many of them, but the praise I got for my cooking was unequivocal. One of them even said in the feedback round that she shall now became vegetarian and convert her family and friends too! I was so happy to hear that since now I can think that besides some money for me, I may have achieved something much more important: actually a tiny little change in the world towards a more sustainable future. That felt like a great achievement for my fingers that were coarse from cutting veggies and legs that were trembling from too much standing up.

Working in the kitchen, even if it is creative and fun, and a profession where you’ll be loved and praised much, is mostly a lot of hard manual labour. Since I’m no Michelin Star chef, I do my own dishes and chop my own veggies, and spent a lot of time lugging heavy bags from one place to another. For some reason, it is always these more than twelve-hour days you end up doing. By the way, if you want to become my slave, get in touch immediately!

Some tips, if you end up cooking for a crowd of people:

- Reserve enough time, and plan ahead: when one pot is cooking, can you make the salad meanwhile? How long does it take for each thing to boil or bake, and how long does it take you to chop the ingredients? A good cook can concentrate on several processes at the same time.

- Learn to use your knife, and always bring your own. Generally, if you can chop fast, you should be able to cook for many people, no problem. I do like get some help, if I need to make a meal for more than 40 people and the time is limited.

- It’s often hard to estimate how much people will eat. Generally, a meal should be about 300 g, though it depends a lot: men eat more than women, alternative people eat more than mainstream people, people who are active outdoors eat more than people who have spent time sitting in a meeting.

- Usually, I estimate about 4- 5 dl soup as a single course, or for a meal 70 – 80 g grains or 150 – 200 g pasta and about 2 – 3 dl of curry or sauce, and about 2 dl salad. It doesn’t matter how you count, you can also multiply recipes or think how many potatoes each one will eat etc. The important thing though is that you do some kind of an estimation of the amounts that you’ll need, and plan the things on your menu.

- Any kitchen often lacks these: a proper knife, a lemon squeezer and a hand held blender.

- Don’t be shy with spices (there are a few exceptions though, like black pepper and cloves).

- Afterwards, remember to enjoy the praise!

This is the kind of food that I usually make for people: quite a general vegetarian fare, but tasty and wholesome. The following recipes are by Tuija Ruuska, slightly modified, except for the salad which was a moment’s creation. The amounts are enough for 15 – 20 people.

Caribbean Mango Sauce with Kidney Beans

500 g carrots

7 large potatoes

4 onions

2 large bell peppers

1 tbsp grated ginger

5 fresh chillies

3 cans of kidney beans in salt water

2 cans of coconut milk

300 g frozen green beans

150 g frozen mango puree (you could basically use any kind of pureed, unsweetened mango)

1 tsp allspice

juice of one lemon

salt

water for cooking

Start by chopping the onions and the chillies finely, and the potatoes, carrots and the bell pepper into big chunky pieces. Add oil and the onions, chillies and grated ginger to big cooking pot, and fry until the onion is limp. Then add the chopped carrots and the potatoes, and enough water to cover them as well as  salt, bring to boil and let simmer about 10 minutes. Then add the bell peppers and coconut milk, and let boil until everything is tender. As last add the mango puree, frozen and canned beans, lemon juice and allspice, and heat up once more.

Spelt Pilaf with Cashew Nuts

1,5 g broken spelt kernels

water for cooking

300 g green frozen peas

200 g cashew nuts

1 dl canola oil

1 tbsp turmeric

3 onions

salt

First cook the spelt. Two things about cooking grains: wash them first, to get rid of dust,  and always add them to cold water that you then bring to boil, in order to avoid making porridge. So wash the spelt kernels first, generally it is good to change the water a couple of times and really rub the grain, as if you were doing laundry by hand. Then put the spelt, some salt and water into a big cooking pot. The water should come about 5 cm above the level of the spelt. Then bring it to boil and let simmer until the spelt is cooked, about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast the cashew nuts on a dry frying pan, turning constantly, since they burn easily.  Then fry the onions in canola oil, together with the turmeric. Add the peas, the cashews and pour the mixture into the cooking pot with the spelt and mix carefully.

Cucumber and Coconut Salad

4 cucumbers

4 dl mung bean sprouts

1 organic orange

2 dl grated coconut

1 dl canola oil

juice of one lemon

pinch of salt

First wash and cut the cucumbers, and cut up the orange and grate the zest. Mix the coconut, the grated orange zest, lemon juice and the oil and some salt with a blender. Mix the cucumber pieces, the orange, the mung bean sprouts and the coconut mixture.

Tez Kemp & Anna Spurling of La Madre Bakery in Geelong

On Friday 6th November 2009, La Madre Bakery of Bell Park in Geelong, Victoria took out the top award at the second annual Baking Industry Association of Victoria’s “Excellence in Baking” awards by winning the “2009 Baking Manufacturer of the Year”.

La Madre Bakery is an artisanal bakery run by Anna Spurling and Tez Kemp. The couple (in life and in business) took over operations of the existing bakery three years ago, and since then has put their savvy stamp over the entire operation and offering.

The bakery’s specialisation is sourdough, crafted using considered techniques and age-old recipes, and it’s all hand-made with a capital N “No” to preservatives, improvers or any other additives. The full suite of La Madre breads not only features sourdough in all its tin, bun, baguette, roll, cob, fruit-laden and rye-combo forms, but also a ‘traditional’ range, as well as pastries and sweet seasonal treats. They have also recently developed a range of breads utilising an ancient grain that is experiencing a welcome resurgence, spelt.

Ralph Plarre, Co-owner of the Ferguson Plarre Bakehouse group, a highly regarded industry innovator and baking ambassador (and also the previous year’s winner), was guest speaker at the awards ceremony, and noted: “I’ve been keeping an eye on what’s happening down there in Bell Park for some time, and have been so impressed with the team at La Madre Bakery. They are a truly refreshing, progressive bakery operation. Their commitment to creating an inspiring environment through every aspect of their operations, specifically their enthusiasm and actions in developing a benchmark sustainable business, deserves great applause.”

Garry Higgins, the CEO of the Baking Industry Association of Victoria noted that La Madre Bakery was a standout winner, due to “their innovation with product, their philosophical commitment to sustainable practice, their ability to marry sustainability and profitability, and their success at repositioning themselves in the market.”

Anna and Tez were naturally elated by the win. “We’ve had very clear aspirations for this business from the start. Tez and I were keen to achieve a number of things. Firstly, products with great integrity. Secondly, be actively involved in the needs of our local community. And thirdly, be environmentally respectful. Not just to give the whole ‘eco’ thing a bit of lip-service, but actually implement initiatives across our entire business to create almost a “blue-print”, showing small to medium sized businesses that they can be sustainable if they’re serious about it. We have some pretty strong values and our business has to reflect those, and we’re getting there! This accolade is an important acknowledgement of our efforts thus far,” said Anna.

La Madre Bakery now supplies products to a wide range of restaurants, cafés and gourmet food stores throughout Geelong, Melbourne, the Surf Coast and Country Victoria as well as Farmers’ Markets.

But, as you might expect from this enterprising couple – standby… there’s plenty more action in the works.

graham plum scones

i am on a new scone kick.

i am usually a muffin kind of girl, but recently i’ve been all about scones.  the first ones i tried were the fig graham scones using the recipe from My Sweet Vegan; check out Hannah’s blog BitterSweet for information about the book and lots of good recipes.  i was intrigued by the use of graham flour and figs, but i was out of figs, so  i used dried plums (not prunes, but yummy dried plums of a different variety);  i also tossed in just a few chocolate chips to make it sweeter.  initially i was not too excited, but the scones improved throughout the day (because the humidity perhaps?), and the whole batch was happily eaten before nightfall.

i posted a few weeks ago about the babycakes nyc scone recipe, which is the only thing i’ve really actually liked from the cookbook (still have not tried the cupcakes, so i am hopeful still).  i have made these scones many ways, and loved every one of them.  this recipe works as a template for whatever one might want in a breakfast/brunch treat.

almond-date-oatbran scones (adapted from the babycakes nyc cookbook).

2 cups spelt flour
1/2 cup coarse or fine oat bran
1/2 cup ground almonds
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp seasalt
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup agave nectar, plus about 1/4 cup more for drizzle
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup chopped medjool dates, or noor dates soaked in hot tea or water
1/4 hot water

Preheat your oven to 350, and if you are so inclined, use parchment paper to line a baking sheet (with or without is fine with me).  Mix up the flour, oatbran, nuts, baking powder and salt in a bowl; in a separate bowl mix together the (liquefied) coconut oil, agave nectar, vanilla and hot water, then toss it into the dry ingredients.  mix it until it is mostly smooth, then toss in whatever you have chosen for the mix-in (fruit, cacao nibs, seeds, etc).  measure out about 1/4 cup of batter and drop onto the baking sheet; they won’t spread much so they can be pretty close.  bake for 15 minutes; or add a few minutes if you want them a bit crispier. when they come out of the oven drizzle some agave nectar on top- this adds some more sweetness (duh) and makes them really soft inside. yield is about 10 scones… maybe 11.

some yummy variations:

- use fresh-squeezed lemon juice instead of hot water with (whole) flax and chia seeds (use about 1/3 cup seeds total), plus 2 tsp lemon rind
- use coffee instead of hot water, 1/2 cup ground macadamia nuts and spices (i used anise and cinnamon), plus 1/2 cup cocoa nibs.  i also made a drizzle with agave, raw cacao, and just a teeny bit (1 tsp) of virgin coconut oil.  these are some sexy scones! they got many good friend reviews.
- dried cherries, crushed or ground walnuts with whole-wheat and cornmeal
- ground almonds, dried cherries, and chocolate chips, with almond extract
- use coconut milk instead of hot water, with ground almonds and shredded coconut, dried (chewy not crunchy) apple bananas or just-ripe fresh bananas

in addition to all those scones that i’ve been eating, i also finally got around to trying the hazelnut scones from VwaV.  though i was very excited to try them i was less than thrilled with some of the ingredients on the list, namely the hazelnut flavored coffee, the vegetable shortening and the soy creamer.  firstly, hazelnut coffee is almost always artificially flavored, which is creepy.  the soy creamer, while yummy, often has too many ingredients (including controversial palm oil) for me to really love it; likewise for the shortening.  though i used earth balance, i am still not loving the wacky texture of shortening.  anyway! the scones turned out pretty good, but they don’t quite feel healthy enough for breakfast.  maybe for a sunday new york times-coffee-brunch type of morning.

hazelnut scones (from Vegan with a Vengeance)
1/2 cup soy creamer (hazelnut is available, but i used vanilla)
3/4 cup brewed hazelnut coffee (i used kalani organica goat rock roast… yumms)
2 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup room temperature vegetable shortening (please use earth balance and not gmo-icky crisco!)
1/4 cup sugar (extra if you want to dust the top)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 cup hazelnut meal (finely ground hazelnuts- you can do this with a food processor or buy ready-made)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts (i missed this and ground up all my nuts… but still worked well)

preheat your oven to 400, and grease or line a baking sheet (or not…). mix the creamer, coffee (take a sip! mmm), vinegar and vanilla extract in a bowl; set aside.  in a separate bowl, cream the sugar and shortening; then in yet another bowl mix up the flour, baking powder, salt, hazelnut meal and nutmeg.  add the shortening/sugar to the dry ingredients in clumps until it looks like coarse crumbs, then add the coffee mixture and mix until just combined; add in the chopped hazelnuts. (in the original recipe it says the batter should be dry, and mine was definitely not, it was very moist.   i added 2 tbsp of ap flour at this point). drop 1/4 cup-fuls onto your baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes. they should be brown-ish on the bottom and firm on the top.

because they were kind of plain looking, i made a quick drizzle to put on top. i used 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar and 2 tsp soymilk and drizzled over the cooled scones. they are pretty sexy too!

a note: this recipe is taken directly from Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook, and can be found on google books, so i think it okay to post it.

Intense concentration...

Over the weekend, we babysat my nephew, L (3.5 years) and niece, H (21 months). Living in a small terrace, we needed to come up with some activities to keep them from climbing the walls. 

L has always taken an interest in cooking and enjoyed making things at our house. After reading last month’s Gourmet Traveller, we decided that some festive gingerbread would be a great little project. We didn’t go with Adriano Zumbo’s gingerbread recipe from GT (thought it looked a little involved) in the end I chose a recipe from the taste website, as it seemed pretty simple and kid-friendly. 

First up, cream the brown sugar and unsalted butter: 

Butter and brown sugar

Add in golden syrup and an egg yolk: 

Golden syrup in

Stir in flour (we used spelt), ginger, cinnamon and bicarb soda: 

Carefully measuring the flour

Once the mixture is stirred together, the recipe stated you should turn it out on to the bench and knead until it comes together. This was a great (and messy) time for the kids, but the dough wasn’t really coming together. 

I was a little concerned that I had swapped regular flour for spelt without adjusting the liquid ratio (some recipes state you should reduce liquid by up to 25% to compensate). I also did not want to ‘overwork’ the dough, as spelt has a lower gluten content to regular flour and therefore can fail if overworked. In the end, after making quite the mess (as seen on the margins of the photo below), we gave up and used the dough attachment on the KitchenAid (man I love that machine): 

After the dough hook

It looked pretty good – although perhaps still a bit moist (I have adjusted the liquid quantities in the recipe below). I formed it into a disc and refrigerated it for about 30 mins to an hour. 

In the meantime, we made the icing to decorate the gingerbread. I don’t have any pictures of this (too much was happening!) but it is very straightforward. 

We rolled out the dough – I was concerned that it was looking a little fragile, the kids were focussed on eating the edges of raw dough: 

Ready to be cut into shapes

Everyone had a turn at using the cookie cutters, L liked the men, H liked the stars: 

We peeled off the excess dough and popped them in the oven for about 10 minutes. At this stage I was a little concerned about the dough’s consistency… 

But it all came good: 

Cooling

To decorate we had some icing (green for L and blue for H), smarties and overpriced edible green glitter (it cost $8, I got it from Cake Deco in the city – I always seem to lose my head in there). 

Anyway, decorating was great (and messy!): 

L hard at work (at least he liked the green glitter)

H getting involved (well, mostly just eating the icing)

I thought L’s “ode to green” Christmas tree looked pretty good: 

A very green tree

The rest of the gingerbread also turned out pretty well: 

Yum

The gingerbread was nice – obviously sweet (particularly with all that icing!) but it had a good spiciness that wasn’t too much for the kids. Definitely a great activity to keep little hands busy! 

Details 

Ingredients 

125g butter, at room temperature
100g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
100ml golden syrup
1 egg, separated
375g (2 1/2 cups) spelt flour
1 tbs ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Plain flour, to dust
150g (1 cup) pure icing sugar, sifted
food colouring
Smarties, to decorate 

Method 

• Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy.
• Add the golden syrup and egg yolk and beat until combined.
• Stir in the flour, ginger, cinnamon and bicarbonate of soda.
• If you have a dough attachment on your mixer – use it! Otherwise, turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.
• Press dough into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
• Meanwhile, whip eggwhite until soft peaks form. Gradually add icing sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
• Divide icing among 2-3 bowls. Let the kids choose which colours they want and add the food colouring until you reach the desired shade. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge.
• Place the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out until about 4mm thick
• Use cutters to cut out shapes – note because our dough was so moist it was impossible to pick up the cut-out shapes, we simply trimmed the excess dough and put them in the oven on the baking paper.
• Repeat with excess dough.
• Bake in oven for 10 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven. Transfer to a rack to cool.
• Decorate!

The Original Soupwoman will be travelling this week, which means no new soup inventions. But fear not, here is one I made earlier.

Ingredients
400g tinned plum tomatoes
300g apples, peeled, cored and chopped (a sour variety, such as Bramley, is best)
100g dried red lentils
800ml vegetable or chicken stock
1/2 ts dried basil
1/2 ts dried thyme
a pinch of ground cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste

Put stock, tomatoes, apples and lentils in a pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover with lid and let simmer until everything is tender. Add the herbs and the cinnamon and puree with a hand mixer. If the soup is very thick, add more stock. Add salt and pepper to taste, bring to a boil and serve hot with nice fresh bread, such as the rosemary spelt bread below.

Rosemary Spelt Bread

Credit where credit is due: this is an adaptation of the “Roman Style Loaf” recipe on the Doves Farm Stoneground Wholegrain Spelt flour bag.

Ingredients
500g wholegrain spelt flour
1/2-1 tsp salt
3 tsp dried rosemary
2 tsp whole cumin
1 tsp quick yeast
1 tbsp honey
400ml warm water
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (the more flavourful and aromatic, the better)
(coarse sea salt)

In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients. Dissolve the honey in the warm water and roughly mix it to the flour. While the dough is still craggy, add the olive oil and mix well. Knead or work the dough for a few minutes then divide it between two 500g greased or lined bread tins.  Cover and leave dough to rise for about half an hour in a warm place. Pre-heat the oven to 200C (180C fan assisted). Drizzle some more olive oil on the breads and sprinkle some coarse sea salt on top, if you like. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 40–45 minutes.

There should always be time for homemade cookies!

Yum!  After I made my granola last time, I decided to experiment and came up with this great recipe for granola cookies.  They went over really well in my house.  In fact, I had made them for a trip and we almost ate them all before we left!

These do not have a lot of sugar, but are sweet because of the juice and applesauce.  This makes them a great treat for a one-year old (and 30-something year old!)

Laurie’s Granola Cookies

• 3/4 C brown sugar
• 1/2 C soft butter
• 1 egg
• 1 t vanilla
• 1/4 C apple juice
• 1/2 C applesauce (unsweetened)

In a small bowl, cream together the sugar, butter and egg.  Add the vanilla, juice and apple sauce and mix well.

• 2 C whole spelt flour
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 t cinnamon
• 2 C granola
• 1/4 C raisins

In a large bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Add the granola and raisins.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine until all of the flour is wet.  This is a tough batter, so get those biceps working!  Once combined, place 1 tablespoon of dough on a parchment lined baking sheet, 2 inches apart.  Use a fork to pat down the cookies.

Bake in a 350 deg. oven for 12 minutes, until brown on the bottoms.  Let cool and enjoy!

A quiet week. Not much has changed. Still just trouble with my elbow. I had a shot of Enbrel on Monday to prepare for the Thanksgiving splurge of eating. Eating this way has officially become habit now. That’s good for me, I guess. Veggies make me happy, if only they didn’t spoil so quickly, so I could use all the fresh stuff I buy. But life is busy and hectic, so I try not to buy too much at once, and frozen veggies are good for the winter anyway. I like warm meals.

Food of the week: Spelt Toast

One of the most wonderful elements that yoga provides is a sense of clarity and focus—so greatly needed in our frantic, constantly-wired lives.  Sometimes during the day I notice I’m agitated and nervous, as if I’m on deadline for something that I’ve forgotten and am desperately trying to remember what needs to be done.  I don’t drink coffee, but it’s as if I’ve downed a few shots of cafe cubano, and every cell in my body is reacting.  If I can step away from the computer screens and connect with my body and deepen my breath, sometimes it’s a handstand or a headstand, or maybe a backbend over the ball…the stress melts away.

So then I can listen and make better decisions.  Right now my yoga practice needs to be informed by the demands on my body.  I keep reminding myself that I just had a 9 pound baby four months ago!  I gained 40 pounds with the pregnancy and still have about 13 to lose.  Now I’m breastfeeding a big hungry baby, producing more than 30 ounces of milk a day.  If you were me and I was giving you advice, I would absolutely tell you to pamper yourself.  I’ve got to ease back into this practice!  Today is the fifth day of the challenge and my body is telling me loud and clear what it needs: utkatasana and dandayamana janushirasana.  My poor lower back is struggling to recover from the strain of carrying that little monster around for months!  Until my body tells me otherwise, these two are on the menu every day.

Speaking of menus!  Another aspect of hearing loud and clear what my body wants is nourishment—I find that when I’m doing yoga, I make much better choices about what goes into my body.  The deplorable cravings for the CRAP processed food of my childhood seem to disappear.  Today I experimented HEAB-style and roasted a kabocha and then whipped up my own version of Katie’s Blended Grains……..a porridge of organic Kamut and Spelt went into the Vitamix with a little vanilla soymilk, and then I topped it with POM arils!  (Only partly motivated by HEAB’s latest contest! )

I’m a bit disappointed: just like rice milk, spelt milk doesn’t make a decent froth. The one you see above lasted just about the time of taking a pic of it, had a very thin constistency (unlike froth made out of soy or oat milk).

Shame, as the taste of spelt milk is actually not that bad (unlike rice milk!), so I’ll probably go on using it, not to make my morning cappuccino, but for cooking and baking, maybe even for smoothies.

i finally got my hands on the babycakes nyc cookbook, and i was so very excited.  but today i finally got to bake some of the recipes and my excitement has turned to dismay.

this beautiful cookbook features all vegan, (mostly) gluten free, (mostly) sugar free recipes. babycakes uses only spelt flour (which contains gluten) and baking mixes without gluten, including garbanzo bean flour, potato starch, xanthan gum, bob’s gf baking mix, and brown rice flour.   i spent the first day looking at the pretty pictures, and spent day two writing down an exhaustive list of new ingredients to buy, most of them very expensive and rare.

i chose three recipes (hoping that i would be giving away goodies unsuspecting friends… sorry friends, no goodies to share!):  raspberry scones, apple-cinnamon ‘toastie-’ a quick bread, and gingerbread.  there are clear winners and losers on this list; i think some of the fault is mine and some is problematic recipes. i have only tried a few,  and i made heaps of mistakes and substitutions along the way, but overall i am bummed!

a winner! raspberry scones….

it is never raspberry season here in honolulu, so i used some long-frozen strawberries, rinsed, drained, and chopped up to seem like raspberries.  this recipe uses only a few ingredients, including whole spelt flour, coconut oil, agave nectar and the berries.  i followed the recipe exactly, although i made six scones rather than eight, so ended up adding about 5 minutes to the total cooking time.  they don’t look like the photo, but i was very happy with their light and fluffy texture and rich strawberry flavor.  tea and scones for breaky!  i can’t wait to try this recipe with bananas and mango and other locally-sourced fruits.

a loser- for now! apple-cinnamon toastie

ok ok ok… i made a major substitution for this one and i hope this is the reason it did not work.  the recipe calls for garbanzo-fava bean flour, but i could not find this specific mixture.  so i used only garbanzo flour; also the recipe calls for a 7 x 4 x 3 loaf pan, but i used two 6 x 2 x 3 pans and took just a few minutes off the total cooking time.  AND i did forget to add the xanthan gum in the beginning, instead adding it near the end.  this turned out to be a wonderfully flavored doughy mushy mess.  but i will definitely try it again, and will attempt to actually do it correctly!

a loser- for real! gingerbread

i love me some fluffly gingerbread, and i bake it every xmas.  i have a joy of cooking recipe that i refuse to vegan-ize, simply because it is so so good as is.  but i wanted to try babycakes version, made with bob’s gf baking mix (pre-mixed! i don’t think i can mess it up!).   the only change i made was to substitute safflower oil for the coconut oil, because i had already used nearly a whole, expensive jar with the other recipes.  this recipe also calls for a 7 x 4 x 3 loaf pan, but i had to use a 9 x 5 pan filled less-than-halfway, and used the extra batter in smaller loaf pans.  the recipe says to fill the pan halfway and then use the excess batter as muffins, but there are not any directions or baking times given, so we readers/bakers have to just wing it- i find this lack of information discomforting.  the gingerbread smelled so yummy in the oven, but after the allotted time it was still gooey inside: my toothpicks were not coming out clean and it did not bounce back after touching it- for both pan sizes.  i added about 15 minutes to the cooking time for both pan sizes… however! i ended up with an un-cooked gooey waste of very expensive ingredients! goodgod i am so mad! i now have pounds of icky doughy gingerbread that i need to re-purpose or just throw away! i hate throwing food away! both the small and larger loaf pans were cooked well around the edges but almost totally doughy on the insides. i don’t think that the pan size was a factor in the gooey-ness; if this was my mistake, then it seems that the small breads would have been overdone and the larger underdone.  but both were grossly undercooked.

***************************************************************************************************************************** now i am rethinking the quality of the apple-cinnamon toastie, because the results were similar: doughy, undercooked, gummy flavor.  i will not hate on the book until i try to cupcakes and cakes, but i am now very hesitant to waste my ingredients on gooey messes.  though i am a self-taught baker just like the author of the cookbook, i find two major problems with the recipes i tried:  the low temperatures (325 degrees) and the use of hot water in the quickbreads is troubling; as both had hot water and low temperatures resulting in doughy breads, if no water was added and/or the temperature was increased, would the results be better?   none of the quickbread recipes i use call for water- and they come out cooked well, usually at 350 or 400 degrees!  granted, this is the first time i have undertaken gluten-free baking, but it doesn’t help that the book does not offer sufficient explanations as to why certain ingredients work/don’t work.  for example, i am not yet sure if the hot water somehow affects the xanthan gum or the garbanzo flour, or if gf flours require less heat…   i would like to try the recipes without the water and/or at higher temperatures.  and yes, my oven was at the correct temperature, i was watching the thermometer constantly.

i will venture into this cookbook again…. i am just not sure when that might happen.

Had half a zag day for the Halloween party this past weekend in Cleveland. Lots of No Bake cookies, a few drinks, some bread and then Bacon Waffles and Bacon for breakfast. Mmmm bacon!  I’m feeling better about the whole thing. I’m sticking with it for the most part, but I’m not denying myself quite so much, or guilting myself for slips. I want to be as healthy as I can, but I also want to live my life happily. A little bread with my salad is okay, even if it’s not yeast-free or spelt. Some hot cider is not great for me, but it makes my throat feel so much better. Fruit and fresh juice is far healthier than chocolate or other candy or soda. I like vegetables and my tummy likes almond butter far better than peanuts. Need to work on some soup recipes(haven’t I said this before?) with the cold weather coming on. All in all, I’m feeling better about things.
Food of the Week: Broccoli and Sweet Potato Slices

These little guys are so tender yet easy to pack, I actually took some to the hospital the other day when both my kids were terribly sick, and they lasted 4 hours.  You just to have to imagine them on a plate and you’ll find it to be effortless… boom, they’re made.  I experimented but not for long and this was the recipe I came up with.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit

IN A LARGE BOWL:

Cream together:

1/2 butter

1/4 cup of plantation raw sugar

1/4 cup cane sugar

…and continue to cream until smooth.

ADD:

1 large free range egg (organic if possible)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

…blend well with big wooden spoon

MILDLY BEAT INTO MIXTURE:

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/8 cups spelt flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tablespoons milk

MIX MIX MIX

Add 1 cup of organic chocolate chips (i used dark) and mix again – you may add 1/4 nuts if you wish

Drop onto greased cookie sheet by the teaspoon, this recipe makes small cookies!

Bake about 10 minutes or until golden!  It made about 24 for me.

i was not sure if i was going to post this recipe, but it got such great reviews at an impromptu party last night that i decided that my wheat-free friend might want it! this is adapted from some cookbook of years past, but it is one of my favorite and most simple recipes to bake up: using only one bowl and mixing with your hands makes it fun, and the flavors are totally interchangeable.  these cookies are hearty and decadent at the same time.

trail-mix cookies

1 cup flour (whole wheat or spelt works)
1 cup quick oats
1 cup shredded coconut
3/4 cup packed brown sugar (or less if you like)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp spices (optional; maybe cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cardamon, allspice, etc)
1/2 unsalted butter, must be very soft. earth balance also works.
2-4 tbsp water
1 cup (total) of mix-ins (see note)

preheat your oven to 350. mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl, then add the butter and 2 tbsp of water. if the mix is too dry you can add more water, but you want the batter to be crumbly, not sticky. when the batter is mostly cohesive, use your hands to make ping-pong sized balls, then flatten onto the cookie sheet. bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. this makes about 24 cookies.

for the mix-ins:
my favorite combination is chocolate chips and almonds, but i have also used goji berries, sunflower seeds, dried cherries, pumpkin seeds, raisins, other nuts, but anything else will also work. just keep the total to 1 cup, otherwise the batter will fall apart. my last batch was 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/4 cup almonds, and 1/4 cup of goji berries.

Thirty Second Step.

Comme je l’ai dit, je ne vais pas m’arrêter en si bon chemin dans ma découverte du Potimarron. Et par chance en allant faire un petit tour du côté de chez Julie (Plaisir Végétal), je suis tombée sur une recette de Pain d’Epices au Potimarron.

D’une pierre deux coups ! Non seulement ça m’a permis de cuisiner le Potimarron dans une recette sucrée, mais en plus de ça j’ai pu me servir de mon Tofu Soyeux.

Une découverte gustative très agréable ; les épices sont dosées tout juste comme il faut, la texture qui n’est pas ressemblante trait pour trait à un Pain d’Epices « traditionnel » n’est pas pour déplaire.

Automnal Gingerbread

The Ingredients (2 mini Cakes) :

• 100 gr de Potimarron
• 45 gr de Farine d’Epeautre T 65
• 5 gr d’Arrow Root
• 1 pincée de Poudre à Lever
• 1 pincée de Cannelle en Poudre
• 1 Capsule de Cardamome  (son contenu)
• 1 pincée de Gingembre en Poudre
• 1 pincée de Clou de Girofle en Poudre
• 1 pincée de Noix Muscade
• 60 ml de Lait d’Avoine
• 10 gouttes d’Extrait de Vanille Liquide
• 1 cuillère à soupe de Sirop d’Agave
• 50 gr de Tofu Soyeux

The Tools :

• Un four
• Un cuit vapeur
• Un blender
• Une petite casserole
• Récipients (type bol)
• Mini moule à Cakes à Silicone (Tefal)
• Papier Sulfurisé

Chronometers :

• Preparation : 20 minutes
• Cuisson : 40 minutes

Preparation :

Préchauffer le four à 180°C.

Commencer par laver le Potimarron, le couper en petits dés et les faire cuire au cuit vapeur pendant 7 minutes. Une fois cuits, les écraser à l’aide d’une fourchette pour en faire une purée.

Mixer le Tofu Soyeux, puis réserver.

Dans un bol, mélanger la Farine, l’Arrow Root, la Poudre à Lever, les épices, puis réserver également.

Dans une casserole délayer l’Extrait de Vanille dans le Lait d’Avoine, en portant le tout jusqu’à ébullition, puis laisser reposer.

Ajouter la cuillère de Sirop d’agave à la Purée de Potimarron puis bien mélanger, verser la préparation obtenue au mélange sec (Farine, Epices etc.), ajouter le Lait d’Avoine vanillé et enfin le Tofu Soyeux. Mélanger jusqu’à obtenir un appareil homogène et lisse.

Verser la préparation dans les moules à Cakes, puis enfourner pour 40 minutes.

(Au bout de 20 minutes, penser à recouvrir les moules d’une Feuille de Papier Sulfurisé pour ne pas que le Pain d’Epice brûle.)

No news is good news?  Still in a holding pattern. Expect a big update next week about this time. Heading to Chicago in a few hours. I said to a very good friend of mine earlier today: I’m not doing worse or better, might learn something Sunday. Might not. Doc might have something new for me next month, might not. I will do my best to not use it as an excuse any more.

Food of the week: Spiral spelt pasta, broccoli and tomato sauce.

Unripe spelt grain (German: Grünkern) is a wonderfully versatile ingredient and very popular among vegetarians in Germany when preparing sweet and savoury dishes. I use it to make patties, bakes and pastry.

The advantage of cooking the spelt mixture in the Thermomix is that you don’t need to stand next to the machine and stir constantly to stop the spelt from sticking to the bottom of the bowl.

I added tomato paste and the paprika to give the dish a bit of colour. If you can find them, chilli olives are great in this and give the spelt bake a little heat. Ovo-lacto vegetarians can use 2 eggs instead of soya flour to bind mixture and add 40g grated cheese. If you’re vegan, you could try adding a bit of nutritional yeast to give the mixture a cheesier taste.

Servings: 4-6

2 onions, quartered

2 carrots, cut into 1-inch lengths

1 leek, white only, sliced lengthways, cleaned, cut into 1-inch lengths

40 g oil of your choice

200 g green spelt grain (Grünkern)

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp mild Hungarian paprika

400 ml vegetable stock

40 g nuts

2 tbsp soya flour mixed with 4 tbsp water to replace two eggs

sliced olives to taste (can be omitted)

80 g oatmeal

sea salt

black pepper freshly ground

nutmeg

oil for greasing baking pan

1. Before you start: coarsely mill spelt (approx. 6s/speed10) and nuts (5s/speed 5) separately in TM. Set aside nuts for step 5 and spelt for step 3.

2. Cut onions, leek and carrots into chunks. Chop on speed 5 until finely chopped.

3. Add oil and spelt to vegetables with vegetable stock. Scrape any ingredients from sides into bowl. Add tomato paste and paprika. Cook 100/20m/speed2/reverse. (You may have to increase the speed up to speed 3/4, reverse at the beginning to mix the ingredients thoroughly).

Make sure you insert the measuring cup, because the mixture starts to splutter after about 10 minutes.

4. Open the lid carefully, because the mixture is really hot. Scrape out the contents of TM into a bowl. Set aside until mixture has cooled a little.

5. Heat oven to 175C. Add nuts, soya flour with water (or eggs), sliced olives and oatmeal (and grated cheese if using) to spelt mixture. Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

6. Grease a baking pan (I used a square, silicon one) with oil and pour spelt mixture into it. Smooth top before baking for 35-40 minutes. Leave to stand a few minutes before cutting.

This is great served with a spicy tomato sauce and steamed vegetables from the Varoma.

Suhaee and Babar perform at Spelt's 25th birthday celebrations. Photo: K.B. Abro

Spelters raise candles to celebrate 25 years - and counting. Photo: K.B. Abro

DIWALI GREETINGS TO ALL.

Here are some observations on the silver jubilee of Pakistan’s first volunteer-based, professional English language teaching organisation, based on my comments at the 25th birthday celebrations of the Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers (Spelt) on July 31 this year.

Spelt’s annual international conferencestarts today in Karachi – an event they have been holding every year since they started and which involves a ‘travelling conference’ at which key plenary speakers address similar conferences in other cities. I think this must be some kind of record.

July 31, 2009

‘I never knew I could teach without hitting the students’

Beena Sarwar

The Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers celebrated its 25^th birthday in July this year. This is a milestone, noted the respected linguist Dr Tariq Rahman at the event held to mark the event, not just for this particular organisation but in the history of Pakistan’s voluntary organisations. Whenever he tells his colleagues in Islamabad about Spelt, he said, they are confounded by all that it has achieved, and the number of dedicated professionals it draws in and involves.

The expectation is that an organisation run almost entirely on a voluntary basis with just a skeleton office staff is simply not sustainable. Spelt has proved otherwise, which makes those uneasy who talk about the need similar professional voluntary organisations in other fields but keep waiting for funds and resources, he concluded.

One of Spelt’s major achievements is its annual international conference, kicking off with a major plenary session and workshops in Karachi before breaking up and moving out into other cities. Groups of keynote and plenary speakers go off to other cities where the exercise is repeated, providing teachers in other areas the opportunity to participate. They have has had to cut back on venues like Peshawar and Quetta over the past years because of security threats. However, when things settle down — as one day they must and will if the political process is allowed to continue – these venues will be added back.

There are also monthly academic sessions that have continued without a break since the organisation’s inception, besides summer schools and other trainings that take place throughout the year for primary and secondary school and college teachers, government and primary. It is inspiring to learn that they have started an Urdu language strand, and also that another educational institution has started a Math organisation along these lines.

Zakia Sarwar at the Spelt office, May 2004. Photo: Beena Sarwar

My own association with Spelt goes back almost to its inception although I am not an educationist or teacher, or even a member either. However, I have seen it grow and develop since my mother Zakia Sarwar started it along with a group of other dedicated teachers in 1984. Spelt was housed in the lobby of our house for over ten years, until they got their own office premises and moved out, thanks to a grant from the Trust for Voluntary Organisations (TVO) in Islamabad. Everyone in the house was drawn into participating in Spelt’s activities – sticking glue onto labels to be stuck onto envelopes to be posted, folding or stapling papers and handouts.

There was only one person exempted from these activities – Dr Sarwar. But he played a role far more important than stapling papers or labeling envelopes: he gave my mother the time and the space to engage in this activity. Without his active support and open-hearted encouragement, Spelt may not be where it is today.

I feel he is with us still, as thrilled and proud about this landmark as all of us. Some of his thoughts about Spelt are reflected in the observations below.

Volunteerism and commitment: Spelt is remarkable in how much it relies on the spirit of volunteerism and commitment. In this aspect, it has a wealth that cannot be measured in material terms, and which is crucial in this non-funded work. These volunteers, all professional teachers, work incredibly hard. Many of them put in full working days at regular jobs, giving time to Spelt after-hours and on the weekends to plan ahead, or work out issues.

Community spirit – the Spelt ‘family’: The bond shared by Spelters, as they call themselves, is linked to this spirit of volunteerism and is also remarkable. They see themselves as part of the ‘Spelt family’. The children and grandchildren of Spelters born during these twenty-five years do their bit, helping with pre-conference activities, filling conference bags and sorting out papers, or helping with hall management, logistics or catering. Spelters also have fun – they enjoy what they do. There is a lot of banter and laughter at Spelt meetings. And food. They all bring things to eat or drink and then pitch in to help clear up.

Professionalism: Despite being primarily a volunteer-based organisation, Spelt is also a unique professional forum. In fact, it is amazing for a volunteer-run organisation to function on a sustained basis for a quarter of a century without fizzling out or losing quality. On the contrary, Spelt has grown and developed as an organisation even as its core members have grown and developed professionally. “I never knew I could make children learn without hitting them,” one government primary school teacher said after a series of training sessions.

Empowerment: Professionalism is empowering. Teachers who have proper training and are top professionals will naturally be more confident of their skills. Whether they are inexperienced, mostly female teachers in Mansehra, NWFP or Khairpur, Sindh, or established men and women in an urban centre like Karachi, Spelt trainings impart a sense of fulfilment, confidence and liberation to participants. This sometimes rocks personal spaces. But members of the Spelt community are also then present to support their colleagues during tough personal times.

Respect and gender equality: This is obviously a gender-neutral organisation. Although female-dominated, perhaps because more women tend to go into the teaching profession than men, the men and women working together in this organisation do so in democratically, respecting each other as human beings above all else.

Political statement: In its pursuit of professional excellence, Spelt has played an important, if unintended, political role. By continuing to hold their activities come hell or high water – or in the context of Pakistan, military coups or ethnic riots – Spelters demonstrate courage and commitment. This sends out an important message about focus and getting the job done in all circumstances. If everyone followed this example and did what they were supposed to do, honestly and efficiently, many of Pakistan’s problems would be over.

Pakistan’s ‘image’: Spelt’s annual conference draws top international English language teaching (ELT) participants. And they invariably return to their home countries favourably impressed, often with a completely different view of Pakistan than they had before visiting here. In addition, Spelters themselves often participate in international events where they hold their own amongst world leaders in the field.

These observations, formed over the past quarter of a century, reflect an organisation that holds up the best human values – volunteerism, community spirit, professional excellence, openness, democracy and tolerance. In a country where there are few institutions of note, this is no small achievement.

(ends)

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