Bread! Yay! Help!

wow, I cannot believe I made this bread. that is so unlike me to do something that requires time and energy AND patience. but i kneaded twice and waited! so, go me. it's warm, and it hasn't fallen apart yet. it looks sort of dry and cracked in the picture, but it actually has a really nice crust and the inside is soft and lovely.
but help! how do i store it? any ideas?

here's the recipe:

source: http://www.alive.com/2180a7a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=205

1 envelope yeast

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup lukewarm water

2 tbsp. Butter  (i substituted 1.5 tablespoons olive oil)

2 tbsp. honey

2 cups barley flour (freshly ground if possible)

1/2 tsp. salt

Put the yeast in lukewarm water with honey, then add the salt, egg and butter.

Stir in the flour and knead for a couple of minutes on a lightly floured surface.

Place dough in large greased bowl and cover with a fresh towel.

Let it stand in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours.

The dough will rise slightly.

Turn out the dough and knead again.

Shape it and place it on a lightly greased baking sheet, cover and let it stand for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees C

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped.

Turn out on a cooling rack and wrap in a towel.

Jam Cookies!

These cookies rock my world. Picture coming soon.

Source: http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=47

Ingredients
1 cup raw almonds
1 cup rolled oats or oat flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
pinch sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup coconut , canola, olive or grapeseed oil. I like olive the best, with coconut running a close second.
1/2 cup maple syrup
all-fruit jam (raspberry is nice)


Julie's notes:
i added coconut too

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly oil a cookie sheet.
Chop almonds into coarse meal. This can be done with a knife (which takes a long time and is messy) or in a food processor (or a blender, but a food processor is ideal) by pulsing a few times. For a chunkier cookie, grind the almonds only into small pieces.
Grind oats to flour in a small food processor, flour mill, or a blender. You can also use oat flour. For a chunkier cookie, don't grind oats all the way.
Combine almonds, oats, flour, salt, and cinnamon.
In another bowl combine oil and maple syrup. Add to dry. Mix lightly.
Roll into walnut-sized balls. Place on an oiled cookie sheet. Press an indentation in the center with thumb.
Fill indentation with jam. Do not overfill.
Bake 15-20 minutes, or until bottoms are lightly browned. Cool 10 minutes.

Multi-tasking

I am being ridiculously productive. As I am writing this I am simultaneously making:
-barley flour bread
-soy milk
-mushroom curry
-rice noodles (to eat with the curry)

I am cooking the most amazing curry but have no one to share it with because Justin is in Nicaragua. So, shall we call it being productive or being single? I don't know, but I think it will be delicious.

 

The picture doesn't really do it justice, but it's the mushroom curry from Moosewood. And I sauteed almonds in olive oil to sprinkle on top. 

It IS amazing. Yum. It has all these amazing tastes at once, and my favorite part is the apples which are mostly soft but still a bit crunchy. I think this is my favorite thing I've made in a long time. And I'm proud of myself for going the extra mile to make the almonds because they really add to it!

Here's the recipe. I changed/omitted a few things, so here's the recipe that I used. Refer to Moosewood for original.

Mushroom Curry

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup kale

about 1/2 lb mushrooms

1/2 tsp each of the following: ground cumin, turmeric, cinnamon

3/4 tsp salt

1.5 tbsp shredded coconut

1/2 tbsp honey

juice from half a lemon

1.5 cups tomato sliced in small cubes

1 apple sliced in small chunks

water to steam

1/2 cup chopped almonds sauteed in olive oil

Directions:

Cook onions in olive oil
Add salt and spices
Add kale and shrooms
Add 1/4 cup water to prevent sticking and to make nice broth
Mix well, cover, simmer for 5-8 min

Sautee almonds in olive oil.

Add apple, coconut, and tomato
Mix and simmer until everything gets soft but not mushy
Turn off heat. Add honey and lemon juice, mix and cover.

After it has sat for a few minutes, serve over rice (I ate it with rice noodles) and sprinkle sauteed almonds on top. Again, the almonds are optional but really are worth the extra effort!



About the bread:
I am ecstatic to try a recipe for barley flour bread because I have not found non-wheat bread that I like. Actually I do have a rye bread that I thought was awesome even before I went wheat-free, but now I'm sick of it because it's my only option. I'll let you know how it goes, but I'm still in the waiting-for-it-to-rise-again process.

About the soy milk:
Justin and I have started making our own soy milk. We decided that store-bought soy milk is expensive and wasteful because there's so much packaging. Also there are weird things in it like corn, so we just started buying soy beans and we got a soy milk machine which we like to call our Electric Cow. Homemade soy milk is amazing because you can make it your own. Sometimes we add black sesame seeds or vanilla, and there's all sorts of other things that you can add like nuts. There are three buttons on this wonderful machine: mung bean, soy milk, and multigrain. So as the buttons indicate, the possibilities are endless. I highly recommend this machine as a gift for those people in your life who have hot flashes. (Someone close to me who has cancer tells me how amazing soy milk has been for his hot flashes.)