Tying up loose ends

The last while has left us a little frazzled and frayed at our too-busy fringes, and consequently article-bereft, so we thought today to be an ideal time to smooth ourselves out, and tie up some needful loose ends.  First and foremost, we wanted to acknowledge these kind notes from subscribers from upstate New York, the East Midlands in England, America's Deep South and the upper Pacific Coast:  (Thanks so much, Flo, Rowena, Susana, and Mary Anne!)

"To all at The Studio, I just want to say I was talking to my best friend a few days ago and she had tried Nancy's recipe for "Wheaten Griddle Bread," and as soon as I could this afternoon, I made the recipe.  I have to say it is the best thing ever--what a  wonderful taste--thanks so much for doing such a great job.  I love Rachel Ray.  From a very happy customer, Flo Olden"

"I hadn't read Trollope for years, and Rachel Ray was new to me, but I'm enjoying it very much, and the Journal, as usual, is charming."  ~Rowena Edlin-White"

"Our family just finished a reading of Greyfriars Bobby during our school-day meeting time, and we were sad to be finished with it.  It gave our days a special, much-needed lift.  The children still call me Mither now, and how long, I wonder, will they refer to sonsie things? . . . I thirst for inspiration in my home endeavors at any time, but never as much as during seasonal changes . . . I remembered I should pull out some "Springy" back issues of your Storybook Home.  I have a nice pile on the kitchen sideboard now, spurring me on to finish my work today."  ~Susana Cleveland

"I just got your lovely new issue of Storybook Home today, and it's whimsical and beautiful.  Looking at The Garden, I just had to laugh because when we lived at Carton House--the big Irish estate--they had a ha-ha all around, instead of fencing, to keep the cows in the field.  One day we were walking our little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel--as she ran ahead, she didn't see the ha-ha, and so went flying through the air, and landed in a bunch of soft grass at the bottom--it was so funny. And that's my story of a ha-ha!"  ~Mary Anne Komar

Second, among the more fanciful sandwich shapes featured in the the Storybook Kitchen for the Mansfield Park issue of The Storybook Home Journal, we parked a more traditional one--a  less playful tray-full of roast-beef-on-whole-grain-bow-knot sandwiches (page 13).  Although most of you are probably dab-hands at the easy, yet elegant, bow knot, we wanted to provide some instructions for those who may not yet have been allowed to play sufficiently with their food.  Further, sometimes those dapper bow knots are relegated only to the dinner roll basket and aren't treated as rightful sandwich fare, so we also wanted to add a brief pointer on calculating weight of dough to match type of sandwich:

1 to 1.5-ounce bow knots are perfect for small, tea-tray type sandwiches of the two-to-three-bite persuasion, such as those shown in Mansfield Park.
2 to 3-ounce bow knots work well for light luncheons, soup and sandwich meals, and grade school lunchboxes.
4 to 6-ounce bow knots can make a meal, when filled bounteously with meat, cheese and/or veg--or make memorable hamburger buns, withstanding even the outdoor barbecue test (i.e. hot and drippy off the grill) without wilting.

If Elspeth's snappy sketches, right, don't work as sufficient  instruction--just tie a knot with a length of dough--but don't neglect to tie in the loose end!

(Yet one more loose end: we made these out of "Timothy Baker's Bread" featured in Summering in Sawrey with Beatrix Potter--it creates a wonderful sandwich texture and crust.)

Tags: Vol. 11 No. 3, Vol. 11 No. 4, Vol. 12 No. 2, Vol. 12 No. 3, 2012, Bread making, Recipes by Nancy Young, The Veranda