Blog posts

English muffins.  I started with Gisslen's formula, but have to avoid milk, so take it out.  I am still using a very similar formula, but not with a straight dough process, rather adapted to sponge and dough.  I'm slowly increasing the hydration until I get a somewhat flat top during proof.  Next time I'll try 75%.  Gisslen includes 2.3% milk solids, which have an absorbancy of some value, maybe about 1:1. This is the second time I've used gypsum, the first time it accelerated yeast growth, replacing the calcium removed by the water filter.

When a friend showed up at my front door with a freshly picked pumpkin in her arms I didn't have to think much as to how it would be 'put to use'.  Recently I had found a recipe for a spiced pumpkin loaf on a food blogger's site (Annie's Eats) that had caught my attention.  While the original recipe didn't include cardamom, I somehow decided to include it in my ingredient list. I am glad I did.  I also used WY to leaven the loaves rather than IY…..I just can't resist tweaking recipes :*)

With Rosh Hashanah right around the corner, Lucy always tries something new for knish fillings.  This year we caramelized some onions, then threw in some cabbage, a clove of minced garlic and some  home made / smoked shopped corned beef.

A song of the good green grass!

A song no more of the city streets;

A song of farms - a song of the soil of fields.

A song with the smell of sun-dried hay, where the nimble pitchers handle the pitch fork;

A song tasting of new wheat and of fresh husk'd maize.

A Carol of Harvest, for 1867.  Walt Whitman (1819-1898)

While I love rustic free-form loaves with a bold, crackling crust, complex flavor, and a crumb riddled with holes, my family does like whole wheat bread with a denser crumb, softer crust, and low acidity, in a shape good for sandwiches and toast. I hope that I was able to deliver something to satisfy that need, providing a healthful loaf with the previously mentioned qualities.

Here are some pictures of the loaves, including some crumb shots.

This past weekend, I attended a conference in Portland, Oregon, so I wasn't home to bake. I want to assure you my suffering was not intolerable. Susan and managed a long-deferred visit to Ken's Artisan Bakery. 

As some of you may know I've had serious problems trying to get my Sourdough bread to rise, after posting my problem in the forum many of you guys took the time to give me some advice, for which I'm truly thankful. So for those who hadn't read my question before, here it is, and apologies for repeating myself to those who have.

Friday afternoon, I mixed the dough -- again using 50% White Whole Wheat (milled from Praire Gold White Hard Spring Wheat) and 50% Caputo "00" flour.  I put the dough balls in the fridge and left for the weekend.  On Sunday afternoon, I realized that I was out of canned tomatoes. Fortunately, I had a fresh tomato, and I decided to make my own tomato sauce.

On Friday afternoon, we left for a weekend at the NJ Shore.  I had no idea what time I'd be home on Sunday and did not want to try and figure out a way to pre-plan my loaves for a Sunday bake.  So, I mixed up some pizza dough and stuck it in the fridge, figuring we could eat it for lunch or dinner on Sunday.

If he shows talent as an artist, give him pencils or modeling wax in his playroom, but do not let him bite his slice of bread into the silhouette of an animal, or model figures in soft bread at the table. And do not allow him to construct a tent out of two forks, or an automobile chassis out of tumblers and knives. Food and table implements are not playthings, nor is the dining-room a playground.

Table tricks that must be corrected from Etiquette (1922) by Emily Post.