Category: Life at Briden Farm

Sourdough Starter, Recipes, and Histories

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Sourdough Starter

In recent memory, and yet, hardly believable for some, is the recent history with Sourdough, and Sourdough Bread making when in 2020 many of us were seeing empty store shelves for the first time in our lifetimes!

We might say Sour Times, lend themselves well to Sourdough! So, let’s get a Starter!

Ok, Ok, I know! Don’t worry though the real proof is in the Rising Dough!

Now, before I loose You, let’s take a quick look at the History of Sourdough.

It is said that, Sourdough bread has a rich history dating back to ancient Egypt, around 1500 BC. Funny, because most of my people were eating Manna. Of course, after 40 years on the Wilderness eating flatbread it’s no wonder someone, somewhere, came up with a fermentation process, driven by naturally occurring wild yeast and lactobacilli, to make leavened the bread! Right?

In more recent times, Sourdough gained popularity in Europe during the Middle Ages. I said more recent, not modern! However, more recently when in 2020 we were faced with empty store shelves, people weren’t just hoarding toilet Paper, they were also learning to make Sourdough Starter, Sour Dough today, its distinctive tangy flavor and traditional preparation methods continue to captivate bakers and food enthusiasts worldwide.

Meanwhile at home, here in Canada, we’d be a miss if we didn’t mention the History of Sourdough in Canada and how Sourdough played a vital role in Canadian history, especially during the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 19th century! Prospectors carried sourdough starter cultures on their journeys, relying on it to bake bread in the harsh conditions of the Yukon. This iconic connection between sourdough and Canadian frontier life persists in cultural narratives and culinary traditions. Which sort of brings us full circle to Life at Briden Farm!

Take for example how, just today, We’ve rendered lard from our Woodland Pastured Pigs, made homemade bread, manually carried water buckets and feed to our animals through the snow. Some of which we pulled along on the toboggan, and kept warm by our kitchen wood stove while preparing supper of  rabbit and fried potatoes. Potatoes from last years garden of course. I also started feeding my Sourdough Starter, that I started just a couple days ago! Not wanting to waste the Discard from the Sourdough Starter, I found a
Recipe for Sourdough Crumpets! Imagine!

Sourdough Crumpet Dough

Like the Watkins 1944 Calendar that hangs on the Wall beside my Recliner, we often do things the old way, the simple, basic, things are often the best! Take this basic Beginner Sourdough Starter Recipe for example.

See, I hate to waste anything, and to me the worst part of making Sourdough Bread isn’t necessarily the seven days it takes to feed a good Sourdough Starter, to me it’s that when you feed the Starter You have to throw half of it away! Not once, but everyday! At least for the first week! So, I went in search of what I could do with the “Discard”. Here’s what I found!

Sourdough Discard Recipes from the King Arthur Baking Company (Wish They Shipped to Canada). Wouldn’t i just be coo to say You got that from King Arthur! In fact, if You’re in the United States you can just order your Sourdough Starter from King Arthur! I think it might have been Guinevere’s Recipe! Maybe not!?

Anyway, back here in Canada, where we can’t order from King Arthur, and where we like to do things for ourselves, We like this Beginner Sourdough Starter Recipe.

 


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Bear River Flooding

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Flooding of Bear River

Today, We’ve seen Snow, Rain, Sleet, and Hail, and a little sunshine. Temperatures are on the rise, currently 2°C or about 36°F and expected to reach 7°C or about 45°F this evening! While we love the warmer temperatures, and even being able to save on wood and so on, it means lots of melting snow and at hightide Bear River was flooding it’s banks!

Thankfully, we sit about 80 feet above the West Branch of the River, and so it’s not likely it will ever reach here. Although we sometimes wonder what would happen if .. !? Well, anyway, I think we’re pretty safe!

Although it’s blowing up a storm out there, and while we’re well protected by the hill we live on, especially from the Winds that blow from the North and West. lately the Winds have been coming from the East and South. So, praying that, with the water soaked ground and softened soils, we don’t end up under a Tree! Or have trees across the Quarter Mile Laneway that leads up to Briden Farm.

At the end of the day, we’re just happy to be warm, sheltered, with a roof over our heads. Wanna come play on my Island!?


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Chicken Coops and More

Ring Neck Pheasant for Christmas

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Ring Necked Pheasant Dinner

Making Merry this Christmas, 2023, means making a meal that has been grown by Briden Farm..

A beautiful meal, based on a great recipe I found at Project Upland, for Perfectly Roasted Pheasant
If You’ve been reading our Posts for a while You’ll recognize that this is the same Recipe we had at Thanksgiving.

When it comes to Pheasant, I’ve tried a lot of different Recipes,
and this one is definitely how I’ll be doing my Pheasants from now on!

You’ll see the Pheasant sits in the oven on a Cast Iron Frying Pan on Carrots.
Or in our case German Fingerling Potatoes. I love them! Especially good for Home Fries.

I also love Kennebec Potatoes, and thankfully we had both growing in our Briden Farm Gardens.

We’ll be adding Green Beans and Corn on the Cob, also grown by Briden Farm and put in the freezer a few months ago to help preserve freshness. We love being able to prepare a meal, especially on a special Occasion, and especially when it’s the food we’ve raised ourselves.

Of course, I did tweak it a bit, with Watkins Pepper, Sea Salt, a dash of Lemon Pepper, and Cajun Spice.
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Three Years And Over 880,000 Website Visits

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Three Years Of Website Stats

We launched BridnFarm.com on Mischief Night 2020, nearly three months after we bought our new Homestead and started, once again, our journey into Farming. At that point we had no idea there were Terms for what we wanted to do! We had talked to various people who had animals over the years and learned what we thought would work best for us to naturally raise our animals, and help turn woodlands to pastures and gardens. Over time we learned that what we were doing with our Goats and Pigs, and later Chickens and Rabbits, and now all those plus our Sheep and Muscovy Ducks and other Critters, was called Regenerative Farming. Employing Rotational Pastures, and practices of grass and pasture management to help ensure success. The first year our gardens hardly grew, the second year we saw small improvements. We even began to discover ways to get help, while helping others, through programs like WWOOF and WorkAway. As we learned, made mistakes, had heartbreaks, and continued on, so did the number of Website Visitors and now we’re approaching 900,000 Website Visits! Nearly half of those Visits have come in just the past Twelve Months! We are so thankful for You and others like you, who have taken the time to visit, both online and in person. Those who have made Donations and come to be friends and supporters of our ongoing efforts to be the best Caretakers and Stewards of these lands and animals.

We’ve been Blessed … To You… We Say… Thank You!