The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Nice thoughts hopefully...

alexandrut03's picture
alexandrut03

Nice thoughts hopefully...

I have no photos or questions, i try to struggle recipes since 2009 i think... never understood how :).... newer wilol, don't think is God, i think is just... the shape of our time, cuddling and joy, and a dough, mother, sour, levain, yeast.... name it is no good without that (sticky when hydrated or dead... or unhealthy or good... risky... anddddd, it will eat you alive if u care too much, never throw, you get huge amounts FAST)... cute thing...

but the answer is really in countryside and inside yourself, how u touch and feel, the surroundings, the nature... is just pure basics :)... thanks to bread i can see light in this covid thing, bake and go on :), thanks grandmas an granpas known or unknown ... :)

 

Have a nice evening (here in europe is evening, clean air, fear but... even joy :) , take care, handle with care ang go and do ur doughs! !!!

bread1965's picture
bread1965

It's a crazy time and we're all going through a lot right now. Baking is therapy for many and a way to help get through the situation.. Keep baking, post your breads, enjoy the fresh air and know this too shall pass..

Cedarmountain's picture
Cedarmountain

Each morning when I wake up I open the blinds and take in the world view from my bedroom, it's Spring time here, the sunshine is bright, the air is clean with a light scent from tree blossoms and flowering plants, I hear birdsong, and as with every Spring I have been privileged to enjoy and experience in my many years, everything beckons me to get up and engage the new day and then it hits me...everything is the same but everything is different.  Social distancing is the order of the day, nothing is familiar anymore, toilet paper, hand sanitizer and face masks are the new gold standard, stay at home the new social order. In the growing despair, anxiety and fear I try to make sense of this new world order, try to focus on any moment to moment hope - people spending time together in their isolation actually talking to each other not their devices; people talking to each other with their devices, appreciating whatever connection is possible beyond the imposed distances; the inequity of rich and poor broken, covid-19 makes no distinction wreaking havoc on a global scale across all economic, health, social classes while governments engage in a never before seen wealth re-distribution, we're all the same; heroism beyond belief as first responders, front line health providers knowingly put themselves in harm's way risking infection every working moment, often without adequate personal protective equipment and yet they show up and do what they do; other heroes, many that labour under a minimum wage, that maintain the supply chain for the necessities of life for the rest of us, grocery store workers, transit workers, gas station employees, repair people, municipal workers and others, all doing their jobs, nothing special last year and now, they are the rock stars keeping things together for the rest of us; the real humanity of strangers not wanting to be strangers, starved for a human connection, desperate for a conversation with someone, anyone if even at a social distance.  Yes, things are pretty unsettled, a new way of living has dropped and we are all in it...there is still hope and that means we hold the line as best we can, each of us doing what we can to support and encourage each other.  Baking has been therapeutic for me, a respite from the depression and despair that has been my constant companion over many years; in these strange and challenging times it is even more so.  For me, in the simple act of baking a loaf of bread for a neighbour, our postie, someone self-isolating to protect me and others, there is a sense of defiance, a fist in the air that this covid-19 pandemic will not break us, not without a fight. As with many things, it's the momentum generated by a multitude of seemingly simple things that often makes the difference...so, keep the faith, stay at home, stay distanced and most of all, stay well!  

alexandrut03's picture
alexandrut03

Sweet :), i admit... 

My grandpa passed away, ive made her a loaf, the amazingest! Forgot to photo, It was easter and covid gave me just pain, pain because no one realised that even here is pretty unclear how to handle it.... We will stay in but i need after that ... i need to go into the mountains on a piece of land, to sit and bake, without anyone :)... honestly, a bit... can I? She died of cancer, NOT A COVID, lets stay in for those who are dying, and always keep informed how to do it... The laws are here for all of us, and here are not understandable, not even on an army level :)... Anyways, really, i enjoy that air and i cant cry, i need just a bit of freedom, prior to covid.... i was full of regrets till i understood this concept, of dough, tairing, working against us, but just LETTING HIM SIT A BIT is amazing... :)... i hope this dream will not end with isolation, at least having a bakery at a point... just wanted to eat a piece of my amazingest loaf with my grandma... sorry guys :) its sad, but nice that i am crying now... here, not with my family, at least that i know for sure is legal. KEEP INFORMED!

JUST HOPEFULLY I CAN AFFORD ENOUGH FLOUR TILL COVID IS GONE! (it was an "optimiostic sassy ironic" joke), keep exponentially raising my starter, he starts to eat me, i have one proofing at 2 hours! faster that some easts, one that takes days, and keep multiplying them.... its magic for me, understanding the essence of dough bornt  from dough, this power to feed yourself of something like flour and water and... that's it? the rest is basically homeopathy.... and after cook it? in SO MANY WAYS, known by ALL! That's such a given and an interest thing, that though, allegory story .... thats why we are playing with it.I am curious how many loaves wil contain a bit of my starter... or dough... after all what was first? the chicken or the egg? I CAN GET LOST ON THIS BREAD STORY FOREVER, so nice and since forever :)

Is he baking now?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NspiG3y1R0&list=LLEXjTDXma4EYjuh1cqGpYDg&index=4&t=0s

So many years of doing cgi (computer graphics), i am bored of this enviroment, i want a clean one... after covid at least, green and happy no smoke and cars and s... 

 

Sorry, no one knows me on this forum so... :)))) . Kidding, never felt something like this before. I baked a bread with his method in a second, at 87% hydration, have you tried with yeast? same thing... EXACTLY THE SAME! DHOUGHS ARE DHOUGHS and the proof is a PROOF.... so how can you proof the proof, LIKE A GRANDMA, when youre gone, youll remain and so on.... with anyone and a dough! 

She broght joy after all as you did and anyone else, and we will celebrate after this alot! HOPEFULLY IN A GREENER ENVIROMENT! And i hope ill be ok with my job, or withoutit or flour or not .... hopefully in a greener enviroment and more birds, less airplanes, more quiet and joy and sunshine... it was SO WARM that it was like eating PLACINTE (in Romania there is a dough and bread eaters, tons of it... a regime and lots have been here with my granmas, but at least this one was CRAZY, she died happy... i knew her so well... sooooo well...) night, i will work tommorow at 9 AM (here is 4 AM), but i needed this, really :))))

 

I WILL BE ASHAMED OF THIS!

alexandrut03's picture
alexandrut03

Its hard for me to keep awake now, literrally, but i cant sleep, mentaly... do you think after that, that i could build a camp, living 3 months (summer ones) in a tent, like a gipsy, a very, VERY CHEAP hotel, but i want 3 summer months after this illness, socially and REAL! if life gives dough to knead it, lets mill our flour and go on... cant see myself doing something else right now, and my dream is approachable , and i want it so bad (lived in italy in an old mill, THE BEST YEAST EVER, such warmth, feeling home but not home... long story, i am 30 and still to come!) , i was so bored there with all the beauty to learn this, like i had to learn my job till i had my peak and i need a feed... and we are the same dough and STILL everything goes on... so :)))))) what a nice place to be this forum... thanks :)

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

TFL can be a nice place to just think about bread and eating it.  This quarantine is starting to let up little by little and so many are feeling relieved to move around and get hiking and into the woods.  Hope you are getting some walks into your baking schedule.  

Mini