Quick Oats Hybrid Bread

This particular loaf was one of many from an indulgent project that has gone on for the last four months or so. My starter was on the slow side during the winter due to only being used every six or seven days and the average indoors temperature being around 68F. So I had to use two or three steps to build it up for a loaf, leaving some for the next loaf  and the rest of the discard to use in my Saturday night pizzas. Despite that process, experience taught me that I needed to add some instant dry yeast to give it a little help on its way to the oven. Every loaf got between 1/4 and 1/2 tsp of IDY depending on personal whim or time of day I wanted to bake with 1/4 tsp being the most commonly used for my usually relaxed production schedules.

Ingredients

110 g starter at 100% hydration

281 g DM Bread Flour
49 g WM White Whole Wheat Flour
33 g quick oats
253 g water at 80F
8 g kosher salt
1/4 tsp Instant Dry Yeast

I found that this particular loaf was suitable for using either a retarded proofing or just being proofed at room temperature.The quick oats needed an equivalent weight of water added to amount I'd usually use in a 1-2-3 loaf, about 220 g. While the oats were usually not seen at the end of the bake, as if they had disappeared, they did contribute to a more moist crumb in the finished product. The loaves lasted six days or so before being eaten up with little to no diminishing of the quality.

Winter seemed to last well into March so I didn't start my garden and the weeding of my flower beds until early April after Mrs PG and I returned from visiting my parents in Massachusetts. Most of the garlic successfully wintered over. I tried to start some loose leaf lettuce with some seed tape but it just doesn't seem to work for me. I did have either the foresight or worry that it might not so I added some freshly bought lettuce seed that is already fighting for survival from frequent rains and not enough sunny days. I have three tomato plants and three pepper plants in the ground already but the soil may not be warm enough for growth. My oddity plant this year is a lavender, either French or Spanish. Tags at gardening stores aren't always in the right spot. However, since it's an herb it has a home for the next five months or so. I noticed what are locally known as "sweat" bees already hanging around the flowers.

The peony plants have started to bloom. The blooming plants are the old fashioned pink peonies that have a rose scent. I don't expect a surplus of blooms this year but the stems are noticeably longer than in recent years. Some of the plants have stems that reach mid chest on me and I stand an inch over six foot tall. They should be quite a sight this year.

The juncos stayed around through mid March or so and now some of the migratory birds are stopping by the feeders on their way north. I haven't identified most of those strangers but Baltimore Orioles and Carolina Wrens have occasionally stopped by and the usual year round suspects distract my attention to outside my window.

While the media have moved on from covering flooding of the Missouri River and its tributaries, there is still a lot of flooding and damage starting just north of us around St Joseph, MO. Approximately 84 miles of Interstate Highway 29 between St Joe and Omaha, NE has already been washed out or damaged so badly that they have to be completely rebuilt. Estimated completion is anywhere between late June and October.

Comments, humor, and questions are welcome.