Sunrooms Are Wonderful!

Two years ago we began a project to build a sunroom on the southern face of our home. For one, we would now have a real front door! The steel roof slants to the south which means in winter all the snow that gathers on that 32' x 60' roof comes sliding down and dropps 18' to the ground, piling up in front of the door. We could only use our front door in part of the year!

Last fall we completed a 12' x 42' sunroom, as you can see from the pictures above. There are 12 4' x 5' windows which bring in massive light - even in winter! The floor is stamped concrete. Jan stained the floor and I put the sealer on it. At the east end is a beautiful natural river rock wall behind the wood stove.

Jan is in love with this room! She practically lives here. It's warm, sunny, cheery, and the couches are very comfy. We also moved our Italian dining table out here and this is where we eat most of our meals. The stove keeps the room about 75 degrees during the night and heavy overcast days while the sun makes it about 75 to 78 degrees on sunny days, even when it's below zero outside. An added plus is that the stove and solar gain heat from the sun are heating the rest of the house! We are using our propane heating system a lot less, which is saving us hundreds of dollars in heating bills.

All day we enjoy the incredible views of the hills and down valley. we watch eagles soaring and ravens (Jan's favorite bird) passing by. At night we can watch the stars or the moon shadows during the full moon.

Living in a barn gives us great joy. Having a sunroom attached has brightened our lives even more! It's a grand place to have friends over for tea, a serene place to read scriptures or a book, and a wonderful place to have dinner with friends. We do hope you will stop in and join us on your next trip through the valley!

Winter fun

Make a Smilebox photobook

**to escape from the album when finished viewing, click the ESC button on your keyboard**

The Sourdough Bread Journey

About 14 years ago I began a quest to create a bread similar to our favorite bread from Naples, Italy. Jan & I met there in 1987 and food was a passion for us, especially the crunchy bread found in the Campania region of Italy. While Jan was stationed at the Naval Hospital on Adak, Alaska 1994-95 our neighbor, and Jan's long-time friend Melinda Cornwell, gave me a very old sourdough starter. When we returned to Bremerton, Washington I began experimenting with a variety of recipes. Finally, in 1996 I discovered the right recipe to create wonderful Neapolitan bread! We served this bread at a number of dinners to the enjoyment of all.

In 1997 Jan retired from the Navy and we prepared to move to Nephi, Utah. My starter was in the moving truck, safe - or so we thought! Unfortunately, there was a heat wave, the key to the door lock was lost, and . . . oh well, through some bad fortune the starter was lost! I just didn't feel like trying to begin all over again, so soon stopped making bread.

In a farm magazine recently I happened to read about starting a wild yeast sourdough starter. Could I try to do it all over again? Why not! For the uninitiated, getting a successful wild yeast starter is not easy. Often you get a bad tasting yeast, through out the mix, and start again. the recipes called for store-bought white flour. Once wheat berries have been ground, in about 3 to 4 days all nutrition is gone. For 6 years now Jan has been using frsehly ground wheat. this is what I decided to use in my quest for a new starter.

A miracle happened! The very first try we got a very nice smelling yeast. After feeding the mother every day for a week I altered the recipe found in the Mary Jane's Farm Journal Magazine, changing the measures to what I thought would fit using freshly ground whole wheat. As the sweetener for the rise I used honey harvested from our own hives. The first bread was a total success!

The next week I decided to use the Neapolitan recipe I had perfected in 1996. Hmm, not enough salt and didn't rise as well as it should have, but successful enough to eat. Wonderful.

Last week I tried the same recipe again, adding more salt and still playing with the water ratio. Sad to say, it was a miserable flop - the horses loved it!

Yesterday I altered the recipe again, let it rise an extra 2 hours, and this time we got a successful bread! Light, salted just right (course sea salt, of course), and just enough water to balance the flavor. Still not exactly neapolitan crunchy or a large crumb, but a satisfactory bread all the same! Jan says I have to keep practicing until I get it right - she says we'll eat all hte failures until I get it right. :-)