Swedish Rye (Limpa)

Sigh.  Same old shit just a different day -- Peter tricked me into thinking the rye/barm/sourdough ish was over with, but he snuck this one in after the fact.  It has a lot of random spices in it, though.  And is slightly weird b/c it requires boiling, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Soup you'd feed your redheaded stepchild OR the beginnings of swedish rye?!  Your guess!  This is water + molasses + dried orange peel + ground aniseeds + ground fennel seeds + ground cardamom.  Can I also say how much I love little markets that let you buy spices by the ounce or whatever so you don't have to spend six dollars on a bottle of spices you probably won't use again?  Yay little markets!  As an added bonus, too, "Nutritionists are now quantifying the therapeutic benefits of orange peel, licorice-flavored spices, and bitters as digestive aids that various traditional cultures have espoused for centuries"!  So, this bread will also aid in my quest of becoming traditional.  Or food-body-minded.  What are those people called?  The ones that eat like quinoa and greens for lunch.  PS: that is what I ate for lunch, so I'm not hating.

Haleem OR the beginnings of swedish rye?  Added to the redheaded stepchild soup is barm + rye flour.  This sits for four hours.  Hopefully it will be bubbly by then, but with barm, as we have seen, you never know.  HUSTLE HUSTLE HUSTLE HARD

So, it didn't bubble.  I was not surprised.  Hopefully the added yeast today will be enough to push it to the next level.  This is a sports show now, apparently.  GO BUMBLEBEES GO

But, I put it in the fridge overnight anyway.  The next day =

= bread flour + yeast + salt + brown sugar.

I was debating whether or not to actually show this picture, but I figured you all should understand that breadbaking is not a pretty process.  The kneading involved in this bread was gross.  No water was added -- I mean, supposed to be added.  I added it anyway.  Then it got all messy.  But, I don't have any pictures of that process, luckily.  What you see above however, is + the sponge + melted shortening.

Apparently I didn't take any pictures of this mixed.  But, I mixed it.  And that sits for two hours.  Deciding to bake bread today yesterday didn't account for the fact that I really need to leave the house to read.  I'm trying my best, people.  Good grad student, go!  HUSTLE HUSTLE HUSTLE HARD

After two hours:

I think this might be working, kids!  Yikes!

I am writing this a couple hours after I actually did all this stuff.  I have such a short attention span.  This feels like days ago now.  The Grammys happened, I went to a coffee shop, saw an apartment, I'm reading On the Postcolony, Whitney Houston's dead.  Days are like fucking YEARS, people.  Well, back to the bread, the real reason why you're all here.  Above it's scored and ready for it's second sauna vacay.

Post sauna vacay:

Monster baby!  If you watch The Office.

Post bake sesh.  Looks pretty good if I do say so myself.  Okay.  Per you-zh, you're supposed to wait an hour before cutting, but I wanted some bread.  I cheated.  Yikes!

AND, people.  This bread was actually delicious.  Like can we make a french toast brunch tomorrow?  Or, you know, this:

Peanut butter!  Honey!  This delicious spicy bread!  An article!  That I finished reading!

5/5, people.  Bitch, please.  <3