An absolutely perfect supper

We started a crockpot of stew first thing this morning.

I also made fruit salad. Banana, orange, apple, pear, raspberries, strawberries, kiwi.

This afternoon I baked Black Rye bread that turned out heavenly, even without addition, but we topped some of it with our homemade goat feta and some with Irish butter.

Oh my gosh! The perfect flavor combinations!


The bread recipe:

Black Rye

2 cups all purpose flour, divided
1 1/2 cups rye flour
1 envelope rapid rise yeast
3/4 cup wheat bran cereal
1 tsp salt
1 tsp coffee granules

1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup molasses
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons butter
1 square (1 ounce) unsweetened chocolate

Set aside 1 cup all purpose flour. Mix remaining
flours yeast, cereal, salt and coffee in a large bowl.

Heat water, molasses, vinegar, butter, and chocolate
until very warm, 120 - 130 degrees. Stir liquid into
dry ingredients. Mix in enough reserved flour to
make a soft dough that does not stick to the bowl.

Turn onto floured board and knead five minutes.
Shape into smooth ball; transfer to a greased baking
sheet. Loosely cover dough; let rise 40 minutes or
until almost double in size.

Bake at 400 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.

(note: I'm not liking the results of baking bread at
400. The ends of the loaf are a bit blackened. Next
batch I'll do at 350 for an hour.)