Outlander Kitchen

Salt Rising Bread from Drums of Autumn

“No, let him stay, Auntie,” he said, croaking slightly.  “He’s a good fellow.  Are ye no, a charaid?”  He laid a hand on the dog’s neck, and turned his head so his cheek lay pillowed against Rollo’s thick ruff.

“All right, then.”  Moving slowly, with a wary glance at the unblinking yellow eyes, I approached the bed and smoothed Ian’s hair.  His forehead was still hot, but I thought the fever was a bit lower.  If it broke in the night, as it well might, it was likely to be succeeded by a fit of violent shivering — when Ian might well find Rollo’s warm hairy bulk a comfort.

“Sleep well.”

“Oidhche mhath.“  He was half asleep already, drifting into the vivid dreams of fever, and his “good-night” was barely more than a murmur.

I moved quietly about the room, tidying away the results of the day’s labors; a basket of fresh-gathered peanuts to be washed, dried and stored; a pan of dried reeds laid flat and covered with a layer of bacon grease to make rushlights.  A trip to the pantry, where I stirred the beer mash fermenting in its tub, squeezed out the curds of the soft cheese a-making, and punched down the slow-rising salt bread, ready to be made into loaves and baked in the morning, when the small Dutch oven built into the side of the hearth would be heated through the night’s low fire.

Diana Gabaldon, Drums of Autumn, Chapter 28