what berries?

There is a part in Barbara Kingsolver's book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle where she is making mozzarella cheese and a delivery man comes to her door. She is embarrassed to be caught making her own cheese. She understands that cheese making is part of an eccentric lifestyle that she has chosen but she wonders what else might be assumed of you if you are caught in that act.

I can sort of relate to this. I feel like I do a lot of things that I am slowly realizing are not widely practiced. I was teasing a friend of mine once about watching the Weather Channel after work everyday, to which she replied, "But Robyn, you go home and quilt." hmmmm....you mean, that's unusual? ;)

So bread making, I've noticed, might be one of those things that not everyone does. But simmering wheat berries to add to the bread seems like a bigger step, heck, a giant leap, into a life of eccentricity. Though, tell me if I'm wrong! If you love your wheat berries, speak up!

The first time I saw wheat berries in a recipe I had no idea what they were. And I did not have a health food store nearby to go and investigate. Since we've lived in Brooklyn, though, there has been no lack of health food stores and so I decided to go and check out the wheat berry situation. When I asked the guy about them, he showed me a bag labeled "Hard Wheat". I bought it, brought it home, and simmered wheat berries on my stove for several hours.

Wheat berries are the whole kernel of wheat, except for the hull. The thing about wheat berries though is, they're delicious! They are nutty and chewy and full of the good stuff. So, this week, I decided to add some to my bread. And they were a huge hit!

I'm still feeling a little shy about this though. I mean, what else might folks assume about me if they know about my wheat berries. So, let's keep this on the down low. Okay?