Beer Pizza!

I'm trying something new on the blog today... I'm going to attempt to pass on a recipe which I just can't keep to myself - a quick, simple pizza base made using beer! There's no need to leave it to rise, it's ready straight away and tastes as delicious (if not more) than regular pizza crust.  I can't take credit for coming up with the idea, I first heard about it from my sister whose Spanish housemate makes them so after investigating Google we managed to find a recipe but the measurement weren't quite right. Most of the cooking I do amounts to a good deal of guesswork - I don't even own a set of scales - but I think I've just about perfected the recipe now.

To make the base you will need:

Two cups of plain flour (that's a 250ml vessel. If you're struggling to find something a large wine glass is generally 275 ml... you can see I'm used to guess working!)
One cup of beer (So far I've used lager type beers or pale ale, I'm going to give it a try with something really dark at some point though!)
One teaspoon salt
One teaspoon baking powder

You can double up the recipe if you like, it freezes brilliantly. And now to get pizza making...

1. Start by sieving your flour into a large mixing bowl and adding the salt and baking powder. Gradually add the beer and mix as you go, I use a spoon at this stage then get stuck in with my hands later. This is very satisfying as the beer foams up and you'll see it creating a doughy texture straight away.
2. Bring the mixture together into a ball, you may want to add a little extra flour or beer as you see fit. It should be springy and elastic already.
3. Turn your dough out onto a floured surface a kneed a little, it shouldn't need much, until you're satisfied with the consistency.
4. Now to shape your base, the way I do this is to use a rolling pin to make the rough shape then by stretching the dough with my hands and fitting it onto a circular baking tray. I accidentally put olive oil on the tray once, which made the base nice and crispy underneath but it meant that the dough kept slipping and shrinking down, so it depends whether you like a thin or thick base!
5. I like to bake the crust a little first to make sure you don't get a soggy middle... Do this for around 10 minutes, or until you think it looks ready.
6. Then add your sauce and toppings. The one I made today was dictated by what was in my fridge (ie not much) so the remnants of some very mature cheese, cherry tomatoes, basil, pesto and creme fraiche.
7. Then put it in the oven until it looks nice and crispy (sorry, I've not got timings for this. Depends on your oven and just how crisp you like it!) You can take it off the tray to crisp the bottom up part way through when the base is firm enough to be transferred if you like.
8. Take it out and enjoy it, with what's left of your beer if you haven't already drunk it!

Basket Making at Stirley Farm

 Sue showing us how to start off our baskets.

The base of my basket

 The stage of the basket making process where it looks like a giant spider...

 Bending the stakes upwards...

 ... to make something that then looks like a lobster pot!

 Now the weaving begins to make the sides of the basket.

After a tricky bit of plaiting at the top, here's the finished basket!

What's Growing in Newsome?

Poor Gavin Repton got roped into making two videos in two days for me... Didn't he do a nice job though?

Oxfam Birthrights Exhibition, Huddersfield

Oxfam volunteer, Veronika Susedkova, organised a display of the Birthrights exhibition in Huddersfield which looks at maternal care for mothers in Ghana, and put on a fantastic opening night!

Weak at the Knees

The beautiful weather we've been having has motivated me to finally sort my rusty bike chain out and I managed to get it to a functioning state in time to cycle home from work this evening. When setting off, I wasn't altogether convinced that my chain wouldn't snap when under strain especially due to the disconcerting clunks it made up the drive from the farm... But pretty soon I stopped noticing so many clunks, although this could have been because I was concentrating more on the Yorkshire hills that I've not tackled in several months... The ride home was actually quite gentle in comparison to other routes I used to take regularly. I had to resist constant urges to stop at every pub I passed and get a drink and sit out in the sun! I've missed cycling more than I realised - you see so many different things on a bike than you do in a car. My route home to Shepley seemed practically brand new. That said, I'm not expecting to see much of the London to Brighton ride in June unless I get myself some pretty powerful lights!

So now the training has properly started! The cycle home was 7 miles, which left me feeling slightly weak at the knees, I've got quite a bit of work to do before I'm ready for my 62 mile challenge (sorry, I work in miles not kilometres...).

We've also got a long way to go with the fundraising effort. I've got a few ideas up my sleeve but any donations would be gratefully received! You can sponsor us on our Team Toots page.

The Best of Volunteering

I'm on the Do-it.org homepage under the "best of volunteering"... Hurray!

On yer bike!

As well as neglecting my blog a little, since Christmas I've also been neglecting my bicycle... Since moving to West Yorkshire in July, my trusty bike has been my main way of getting around. But since moving slightly further away from the farm where I work and getting a lift instead of cycling in, my trusty bike has become my rusty bike... But it's time to clean up my chain and get back on my bike - because I've just signed up to take part in Moonriders, a charity cycle ride from London to Brighton through the night to raise money for Oxfam!

On Sunday, in spite of having the flu and a rusty chain, I borrowed a bike and went for a ride up on the High Peak Trail. Getting to the trail nearly killed me (apparently it was necessary to take shortcuts through fields, lifting the bikes over stiles and walls...) but it felt great to get back on a bike again!

I'll keep you updated on my training and fundraising progress and if you'd like to sponsor me, I've set up a fundraising page!