It was a mild night with a fresh snowfall - perfect for a winter bonfire!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Snowy Snowy the Snowman
We recently had a snowfall that was perfect for making a snowman. This is the result of Jevin's, Enavi's and my efforts. I asked Jevin what his name should be and he replied, "How 'bout Snowy Snowy?" I thought it was very appropriate!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Experiments on the Artisan Bread Recipe
This week we made a batch of the Artisan Bread (recipe posted on sannes.net). After a couple different attempts at baking, with varied results, here are my thoughts:
- This is a fantastically easy recipe. Great for kids to help with and/or make themselves. I love that you can mix it in a bucket and throw it in the fridge to deal with on another day. It seems to break up the bread-making project which ends up being an all day thing and therefore hardly ever happens at my house.
- That said, it's not quite as easy as the recipe makes it sound. The first part really is easy. Mix flour, water, salt, and yeast. Stir together in an ice cream bucket. Throw a towel over the top for a few hours. Chuck it in the fridge. But then later in the recipe when you're ready to bake, it says to "let it rest for 40 minutes" and then bake. This did NOT work for me and we ended up with extremely doughy bread because it hadn't risen enough.
- Take 2: On my second try, I let it my two round loaves rise for several hours before baking with much better results. The inside was tender and the crust was heavenly.
- My problem on Take 2 was that when I let my bread rise on my pizza peel, I hadn't floured (or cornmealed) my pizza peel enough and it stuck. It baked up OK, but I think I would've gotten even better results if the bread wasn't sticking to the peel cuz it deflated a bit when I had to pry it off the wood to get it into the hot oven.
- Crust. OK, so this crust is really where it's all at. The hot pan in the oven with the steam effect (see recipe) is what "makes" this bread. I've made lots of bread over the years, and this is by far the best crusted bread that I've made. Just the perfect crunch. If you like crispy, crusty bread like baguettes or ciabata bread, then you've got to try this. Bake it on a very hot, preheated pizza stone. Put a metal pan in to preheat, then add water and make your oven into a sauna so that this bread gets all crusty, just like a good Finn.
- I plan to try this recipe as a pizza crust too at some point. I'll post on those results too.
Let me know if anyone else tries it and what you think.
- This is a fantastically easy recipe. Great for kids to help with and/or make themselves. I love that you can mix it in a bucket and throw it in the fridge to deal with on another day. It seems to break up the bread-making project which ends up being an all day thing and therefore hardly ever happens at my house.
- That said, it's not quite as easy as the recipe makes it sound. The first part really is easy. Mix flour, water, salt, and yeast. Stir together in an ice cream bucket. Throw a towel over the top for a few hours. Chuck it in the fridge. But then later in the recipe when you're ready to bake, it says to "let it rest for 40 minutes" and then bake. This did NOT work for me and we ended up with extremely doughy bread because it hadn't risen enough.
- Take 2: On my second try, I let it my two round loaves rise for several hours before baking with much better results. The inside was tender and the crust was heavenly.
- My problem on Take 2 was that when I let my bread rise on my pizza peel, I hadn't floured (or cornmealed) my pizza peel enough and it stuck. It baked up OK, but I think I would've gotten even better results if the bread wasn't sticking to the peel cuz it deflated a bit when I had to pry it off the wood to get it into the hot oven.
- Crust. OK, so this crust is really where it's all at. The hot pan in the oven with the steam effect (see recipe) is what "makes" this bread. I've made lots of bread over the years, and this is by far the best crusted bread that I've made. Just the perfect crunch. If you like crispy, crusty bread like baguettes or ciabata bread, then you've got to try this. Bake it on a very hot, preheated pizza stone. Put a metal pan in to preheat, then add water and make your oven into a sauna so that this bread gets all crusty, just like a good Finn.
- I plan to try this recipe as a pizza crust too at some point. I'll post on those results too.
Let me know if anyone else tries it and what you think.
Visit to Jeremy
I visited Jeremy a few weeks ago at the academy and took this picture with my phone. I thought I would share it with you. Jeremy seems to be happy and well.
Monday, January 7, 2008
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