Many times when I give a loaf as a gift it is still warm and I am reluctant to put it in a plastic bag to risk ruining the crust. I have used teatowels but then the recipient feels obliged to return the "wrapper". I am also a quilter and as anyone who quilts or is related to a quilter can tell you - we have fabric! Yards and boxes and closets full of fabric. So my latest idea is to sew bread bags. No more lost teatowels, no more huge ziploc bags to accomodate sharp "ears" which can tear a 1 gallon bag. Nothing fancy, no patchwork or hand quilting, just a plain bag with maybe a drawstring top. Has anyone else tried this? I'd love to hear about your experiences, A.

This is a loaf of Susan's sourdough that I was sure was way overproofed. In fact it surprised me and produced a lovely set of ears. Note the stainless steel stirring spoon, perfect for whipping up my starter. Susan is going to enter the picture! A

The good news is that I have baked a couple of Susan's sourdough using Wheat Montana Natural White All Purpose flour and find that it is much like KAF Bread Flour. In fact I get the same oven spring and the flavor is wonderful. I bought a 10lb bag because it was slightly cheaper that way - the price here on the island is about the same as KA. Because I have limited storage space I asked at the "bakery" in my grocery store for icing buckets and they called to say they had saved a couple for me, one 5 gallon and one 1 1/2 gallon. The bad news is that the 5 gallon bucket had held dill pickles and I don't think I will ever get rid of the smell! The smaller one held fruit salad and is pretty much odor free after scrubbing and airing. I hate to look a gift horse in the mouth, and I will use the smelly one for weeds or recycling. I suppose I should have been more explicit when I asked for buckets for storing flour. Hope other members have better luck with bakery buckets, A.

Today was the first attempt at waffles in the vintage iron, and the results were pretty good. The iron smoked a lot while it was heating so I planned on tossing the first waffle anyway. Never having made waffles I wasn't sure how the batter should be - I made the KAF sourdough recipe and I thought maybe it was too thick. They puffed up beautifully and my food critics voted them excellent. One went with syrup, the other opted for agave. Any input on the batter consistency would be appreciated, A.

Just in from a family dinner at a very nice bistro in town, our all time favorite. When the waiter brought the obligatory basket of bread the grandgirls fell on it like gannets as though they hadn't eaten in days. Imagine my delight when they announced, quite without prompting, that the bread wasn't as good as Nan's. Made my day! A.

I found a vintage waffle maker by Munsey at the thrift store this morning, and of course there was no manual included. I have never owned a waffle maker of any type but plan on making sourdough waffles when the grandgirls spend the night. Does any member own a Munsey, Model BW-4, and what are the basic rules for making waffles? Apart from not putting in too much batter, that is. There is no light so how will I know when it is ready? Maybe I'll stick to pancakes... A.

Last night I went to an event labelled "Artisan Bread" at the local grange, choosing this over an evening with Elizabeth George and a popular gardening writer. Imagine my disappointment when the "Artisan Bread" turned out to be the good old No Knead Bread! Especially when the speaker put her dough into a cold Pyrex casserole and assured us that it would not stick. In fact she had to cut it out of the bowl in chunks. The good news in all of this is that the room was packed and people got really excited at the thought of making bread themselves. I know that reading about and trying the No Knead method is what got me into this obsession and I can only hope that many of the people there will also become addicted, A.

The loaf is baked and to be truthful I can't see any difference - I was expecting the beer to have some effect and maybe the flour. The loaf slid partway off the parchment as I was loading it so I retrieved the parchment to use another day. The loaf did sing a muted song which was nice. So I am happy with the Bob's Red Mill flour - but won't add beer in future. I'm taking it for supper with the family and will try to get a shot of the crumb, A.

I know that it isn't a good idea to change more than one thing at a time, but hey, the sun is shining and I feel daring! I stood in front of the Bob's Red Mill display yesterday and for the first time noticed a 5# bag of unbleached white flour which is "Superb for bread making by hand or machine". Also supposed to be high protein. So I took back my usual KA bread flour and bought the BRM - after all it was only $3.79 as opposed to $5.  As I was mixing the water and starter for Susan's Famous Sourdough this morning I had an idea to sub in a little of the cheap beer I used last week for the Almost No Knead bread. Plus a small amount of rye, so I guess that was three changes. The dough seems fine and just has one more stretch and fold to go before proofing. I have tomato seedlings sitting on top of the propane stove, my usual proofing place, so it could be slow going. Has anyone had good or bad results with this flour that they would like to share? Hoping I won't regret penny pinching, A.

SulaBlue, thank you so much for your kind help. Makes me feel a little bit better to hear that you had a problem too. I am going to give it a try - but it is late and who knows what might happen! Fingers crossed.

Nope, didn't work. I think my problem is that I don't know how to get to Flickr when I am working here. I found the picture and right clicked and found the option that says Copy Image Address - but then what? Oh well, maybe tomorrow. Thanks again anyway, A.