Blog posts

Very soon it will be Celtic New Year (see my Van Morrison post).   It doesn't mean anything to me except that here in Australia spring is in full swing, spring is the season for new growth and that's what you get after New Year .  Here in Brisbane Hong Kong Orchid trees are towards the end of their flowering season; when their flowers have all fallen, Jacaranda will be in full bloom.  I put on my joggers, went around my neighborhood and took these photos of Hong Kong Orchid trees:

Last week, hansjoakim's blog included a gorgeous rye bread that he referred to as his “favorite 70% rye.” I asked him for his formula, and he generously provided it. I baked “hansjoakim's favorite 70% rye” today.

Chad Roberson's Tartine Bakery doesn't do chocolate sourdough (if they do, I haven't had the fortune of tasting it).  We did Pane Cioccolata (chocolate bread) at Artisan III, SFBI, and it was very good.  Everybody loved it but at the time I was thinking to myself if I were to make it at home I would make some changes for the following reasons: 

Over the years, many people have said to me that I have all the luck:  loving husband, respectful, bright children, fulfilling career in a fun-filled industry, health and a relatively comfortable life.  So when I took a voluntary separation package at the end of last year, it  might have seemed that my luck had stalled.  I never for a second believed that: I had been feeling so burned out at my last workplace that I felt more than half a year of paid vacation was exactly what I needed at this point in my life.

I finally got around to making some of my favorite bread, oatmeal.  I tweaked J.H. Oatmeal bread formula by using KA Organic Whole White Wheat and KA Baker's Special Dry Milk/water instead of regular milk.  The loaves turned out delicious and tender with a lovely flavor.  I will definately be making this bread again and again! 

Sylvia

This past June marked the 42nd anniversary of the release of the Beatles seminal "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," and with it, one of my favorite songs of the album, "Getting Better."

Today marked my umpteenth attempt at successfully scoring poolish baguettes, and to my utter joy a success at last!  So now I'm humming the tune in my head....over and over.

Have you ever seen a photo of very stiff starter wrapped up tightly in cloth then tied up in string (as if making absolutely sure that the little beasties have no way of escaping)?  I never understood the purpose of the tight string until the other day when I was writing about Chad Robertson.   [i]A Day in the Life at the Bay Village Bakery[/i] in [i]The Bread Builders[/i] says Chad "uses a brief two-hour final stage of leaven expansion before he mixes up his dough" (page 221).

I've been a longtime reader (lurker) of the The Fresh Loaf and haven't really had the chance to bake for a while, oven use when it was hot out just wasn't working, I was really busy with work, etc. But I recently jump started myself back into it with the BBA Challenge, and the realization that my girlfriend didn't care about me using the oven at her house!

I love Ciabatta bread. One of my goals has always been to be able to bake it myself and have it turn out as good or better than the stuff from my local bakery.

I found "Jason's Quick Ciabatta" recipe and decided to give it a go.

Attempt #1 was delicious! It had the right crust and crumb and while I have some experience when it comes to slack dough I was not prepared for just how wet this recipe was. The forming left A LOT of room for improvement.

On our way back from The Back Home Bakery, we made a quick stop at the Wheat Montana bakery/deli pictured here: