By October leaves on Sellwood streets. The shiso going to seed. Yoga Tuesday and Thursday at the studio. The classes were full. The body was the body.
Miya, 9, can shape onigiri without falling apart. She uses wet hands. She knows the order without being told. I drank miso from Fumiko's chipped bowl. The chip fits my lip. The lip fits the chip. The bowl is the small daily ritual.
Mushroom rice Saturday. Shiitake and maitake folded into the rice during cooking. Dashi, soy, mirin. The earthy autumn dish.
Barbara called Sunday. We talked for twenty minutes. She told me about the play she is directing. I told her about the kitchen.
Tomi home soon. The kitchen quiet.
The cat was the cat. Mochi at fifteen sleeps most of the day. She still eats with enthusiasm. She still sits at the kitchen window watching the back garden.
A reader sent me a handwritten card this week. Her grandmother had cooked Japanese food in 1970s Boise. She had felt alone in it. The newsletter, she wrote, made her feel less alone. I taped the card to the wall above my desk.
Tomi watered the garden Saturday morning. The shiso was head-high. The shishito peppers were producing. The kabocha was running on the fence.
Miya's old room is now my office. The desk is by the window. The shiso outside. The newsletter in progress. The afternoons are quiet.
A panic flicker Tuesday evening, brief, manageable. I breathed. I drank water. I went outside and walked around the block. The flicker passed. The body did its work.
I wrote at the kitchen table from six to eight. The newsletter was forming. The opening sentence was the hard sentence — they always are. I rewrote it five times. The fifth time was the right time.
Coffee with a friend Saturday morning. We talked about books, about kids, about the way our forties became our fifties. The talking is the thing.
Therapy Tuesday. We talked about the wedding. We talked about Barbara. We talked about Fumiko. The hour passed. The work continues.
The neighbor's dog barked at nothing for twenty minutes Sunday afternoon. The neighbor apologized. I told him I had been writing through it and the white noise was helpful. He laughed.
I cleaned the kitchen Sunday afternoon. Wiped the counters. Reorganized the drawer where the chopsticks live. Sharpened the knife. The reset was the reset.
Sunday farmers market in the rain. The vendors knew me. The Hood River apple stand had honeycrisps. I bought four pounds.
The rain in long sheets Tuesday afternoon. I made tea. I watched it from the porch. The cottonwoods on the next block were silver in the wet.
I texted Miya a photo of the shiso. She texted back a heart and a single word: home.
I made onigiri for tomorrow's lunch. Three triangles. Salted plum in the center. Wrapped in nori. The cling wrap. The drawer where I keep them. The system.
Made dashi at five-thirty AM. Ten minutes in the kitchen alone with the kombu and the bonito flakes. The day's first prayer.
Yoga Tuesday morning. The studio in Sellwood. Eight students. The class was the class.
Miya is in elementary school. The Saturday Japanese school continues. She still complains. She is still going.
I drove to Uwajimaya Wednesday. Kombu, bonito flakes, white miso, a small bag of mochiko for tomorrow's project. The store smells like home.
I read for an hour Sunday night. A book of essays by a Korean-American writer about food and grief. I underlined a paragraph that said exactly what I had been trying to say in the newsletter for months.
Mushroom rice has its Saturday, and bread has found its own place in the week — the overnight kind, mixed in five minutes the evening before, left to do its slow work while the house is quiet and the cat is sleeping and whatever needs to settle has time to settle. After a week of early mornings and therapy hours and the particular effort of finding the right opening sentence, there is something steadying about a recipe that asks only for flour, water, salt, and patience. This is the loaf I keep coming back to: no kneading, no fuss, just time doing what time does best.
No Knead Bread (Overnight Version)
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes active + 12–14 hours rest | Servings: 1 loaf (about 12 slices)
Ingredients
- 3 cups (360g) all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping
- 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups (355ml) warm water (about 100°F)
Instructions
- Mix the dough. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the warm water and stir with a wooden spoon or your hand until a shaggy, sticky dough forms and no dry flour remains. The dough will look rough and that is exactly right.
- First rise (overnight). Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap or a plate and leave it at room temperature for 12 to 14 hours, or overnight. The dough is ready when it has roughly doubled, its surface is dotted with bubbles, and it looks loose and webby.
- Shape the loaf. Generously flour a clean work surface. Turn the dough out — it will be sticky — and fold it gently onto itself two or three times using a bench scraper or your hands. Shape it into a rough ball. Do not overwork it.
- Second rise. Place the shaped dough seam-side-down on a sheet of parchment paper. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let it rest for 1 to 2 hours, until slightly puffed.
- Preheat the pot. About 30 minutes before baking, place a Dutch oven (4.5 to 6 quart) with its lid in the oven and preheat to 450°F (230°C). The very hot pot is what creates the crackling crust.
- Score and bake covered. Using the parchment as a sling, carefully lower the dough into the hot Dutch oven. Score the top once with a sharp knife or bread lame. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes.
- Bake uncovered. Remove the lid and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until the crust is deep golden brown. An internal temperature of 200–210°F confirms doneness.
- Cool before slicing. Lift the loaf out using the parchment and transfer to a wire rack. Wait at least 30 minutes before slicing — the interior is still finishing as it cools.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 120 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 0g | Carbs: 25g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 290mg