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Hello All,

I've just finished another 5 week stint of nightshifts baking in Dunbar, which is on the coast, just south of Edinburgh, Scotland.   I have run a couple of courses too, and kept up my commitments in Northumberland for the Farmers' Markets...so it's been a very busy time and I need a break...so does Alison, who has a much more stressful job than I have, though with more sociable hours, of course.

Last week I was getting ready for a short easter break when I realized I still had some kalamata olives, fresh rosemary and an opened pack with assorted italian cold cuts (salami, cured ham...) lying around in my fridge.  It was all a bit too much to eat in one go so I decided to try my hand at a foccaccia-inspired bread that would incorporate all these ingredients.

The result was surprisingly tasty; I didn't have high hopes -especially because I wasn't working from a recipe- but it turned out really well and very tasty.

Preparation and recipe:

I am getting kind of stuck in a sourdough boule sort of rut and given the various possibilities I could be stuck here permanently and yet I'm hankering to be able to make a decent baguette. Hence, I've been wandering about this site and seeing some tasty looking recipes that play into my desire to let the dough do a lot of the work. Thanks to all these fine bakers for sharing their methods! But I was getting confused trying to keep the variations straight, so I put them into a table so I could try and see what was going on.

Inspired by the arrival of the Queen Mary 2 in the port of Fremantle here in Western Australia I last night finished the story of my extended trip to the United Kingdom and the meeting of fellow TFL members Andy and Khalid.

a view of QM2 through the rigging of the state sail training ship LEEUWIN11

which im going for a sail on at the end of the month

MARCH 27, 2013

Yum…One of my all time favourites…

Hot cross buns…hot cross buns:)

One of my most favorite cookbooks is "Ancient Grains for Modern Meals".

More loaves from the excellent Bread Alone. Click any picture to biggify it.

This time I adulterated the sourdough rye to add whole wheat berries and cracked wheat. I soaked the wheat berries overnight in leftover whey from making ricotta the day before.

First order of business, of course, is feeding my starter the day before to get it ready. Saturday morning I fed it:

Part 2 of the holiday started with the QM2 tying up in Southampton and bidding farewell to our travelling friends Bob and Joan were heading for London and were catching a National Express coach. They were to be in the first group to leave the ship and already had their luggage to disembark. Dave and Anita were actually going to be staying with family in Southampton and Judy and I were to be picking up a hire car that we had organised with an Australian broker before we left. The embarkation was very orderly with designated areas to go to until being called for.