Hi everyone
Greetings! I just joined the list this AM, but have been a bread baker for years...as a teen, Saturday was my baking day and I worked my way thru "Bread on Bread". After a hiatus of several years (read "grad school" and "career"), I got on the bread machine bandwagon. OK, I admit I still use it for kneading from time to time. But what has really inspired me now were two trips to Switerland--the first by myself in April, and most recently, last month with my family...husband, two teens and a tween. They are all now begging for Swiss bread: the crust and the chew are amazing.
As I was planning what to bake today, I started thinking about my baking roots...my great-grand parents owned a bakery in Austria-Hungary, and when my grandfather bought the business, he got both the shop and their eldest daughter ;-) and that was REAL bread, with a real crust, baked in a hearth. So I guess some of my aspirations are hereditary!
I found out about this site thru a series of links as I was trying to find out more info on lames and rising baskets. I appreciated the suggestions on that thread, and I have some ideas of my own to post.
BTW, if anyone has recipes for traditional Swiss breads--other than Zopf, which I have several recipes for already--I'd appreciate you sharing them.
thanks for the welcome!
Paula F
Philadelphia PA