Blog posts

I read in MC's beautiful blog, [b][color=red]farine-mc.com[/color][/b], that Miche is not her favorite bread but that she can understand how someone can go wild about it.  She said, "It is a majestic bread ... rich with the lore and fervor of the old days."    That is exactly how I feel about Miche!  "... rich with the lore and fervor of [color=red][b]the old days[/b][/color]." 

    Well, I've completed a couple of weeks without the mixer.  It has been an interesting and informative time.  I have a very nice Kitehcn-Aid which my son gave me for Christmas about 4 years ago.  It was a refurbished machine which works fine and had given no trouble all this time.  Based upon the experience of others, I decided to mix by hand so I could get to know my dough better and to develop a sensibility to its needs.  This is not something you can get from a book, and failure is your best teacher.  Analyzing what went wrong with a bread

Wishing you a happy new year, with lots of baking. I am sorry for being absent from TFL, I must concentrate on a different hobby next half year (college). Regarding baking I am stuck in Reinhart's Crust and Crumb, which is not a bad thing. Lots of rustic and french bread, favorite is still the SF sourdough from the trail. I did continue experimenting with new forms. I also scan TFL every now and then, thanks for all your posts.

All the best for 2010!

Cheers,
Jw.

It takes a village to raise a Pan D'oro...

My wife and I are spending a few (too few!) days with my brother and his wife at their get-away home near Fort Bragg, California. My older son, his wife and our grandson were able to come down from Portland. 

Our room with a view

Semolina sourdough baked in my wood burning oven.

Well, it's been a while since I've gotten on here, and I've had plenty of time to mess up my kitchen with my experiments and ideas. For the holidays, however, I made something everyone likes: Pumpkin Bread and Triple Chocolate Fudge Cookies.

I've done the cookies before, but this was my first time doing pumpkin bread, but it still turned out FANTASTIC. It was tastey in a spice way, warm, just a little bit crispy on the outside, and a little moist on the inside.

I found a copy of January/February issue of Saveur today, the one that includes TFL in the 2010 Saveur 100.

TFL gets better exposure than "Cantonese Roast Meats" or "Harumi Kurihara," less than the "Tuna Melt" or "Pyrex Glass Measuring Cups."  I can't complain.

Hi!

This is my first ever attempt at a blog.   I have been a member of the Fresh Loaf just over a couple of weeks; that's all.

By way of introduction, I am from the UK, and I lecture in Bakery in Newcastle upon Tyne, in the North of England.   I have industrial experience as a craft and artisan baker going back to 1987.   I gained distinction in my bakery qualifications in 2005, and then went on to gain full teaching qualifications as well.   Currently I am studying for a Masters Degree in Food Policy.