summary: “fish soup” bread based on a recipe in “The Italian Baker” by Carol Field; measuring ALL the ingredients with a digital scale; submission for YeastSpotting; (click on images to see larger views and more photos)

Italian Country Bread is one of our standard breads – what we call “fish soup” bread…. I’ve made it so many times that I always feel certain I’ve blogged and photographed it ad nauseum.

-me, Catching up: Coccodrillo one more time (BBB March 2008), blog from OUR kitchen

At last, I have remembered to get the camera out after making this wonderful bread. And because I made the bread for our upcoming New Year’s Eve feast, I decorated it with stars.

The stars were made by putting cookie cutters on top of the shaped loaves, liberally flouring overtop and leaving the cutters in place as the bread rose. They were removed just before baking.

Ha. It wasn’t easy removing the biggest cookie cutter. The dough rose up inside and really wanted to stay stuck. But I MADE it release itself. (Once I baked bread with the cookie cutter still attached. The resulting crown of star-shaped crust looked very weird.)

(continue reading…)

Care for an audio virus?

                                 
      /\  _|_|_                                         /|   |\
 +----|-|-_|_|_----------------------------------------/-|---|-\-----|-
 |    |/   | |                  ___             /|    /  |   |  |    | 
 |----|------------------------|---|----|------/-|---|---|---|--|----|--
 |   /|          ___           |   |    |     /  |   |   | (#)  |    |
 |--/-|---------|---|----|-----|---|----|----|---|---|-(#)------|--(_)----- 
 | |  | _       |   |    |     |   |    |    |   | (#)        (#) 
 |-|-(I,-)------|---|----|---(#)-(#)--(#)----|-(#)----------------------
 |  \ | /       |   |    |                 (#)           
 +----|---------|---|----|------------------------------------------------------
      |       (#) (#)  (#) 
    (_|

Here, quick!! Erase it with the following brilliance: (continue reading…)

summary: window pane testing; using the “precision pocket scale”; is reading the instructions really necessary?

I (yes, I) performed the window-pane test!

Today is day 2 for Susan’s (Wild Yeast) Lemon Anise Snowflakes. The starter was supposed to be doubled. I mixed it late yesterday afternoon and not wanting a repeat of the other day, I left it on the counter overnight.

This morning, it hadn’t budged. Not one iota.

Of course, I shouldn’t really be surprised. The kitchen is 14C and there were only a few grains of yeast in the starter. (The starter for the fish soup bread, on the other hand, was bubbling madly and threatening to ooze out of the bowl and onto the same 14C counter. But it had considerably more yeast and zero egg or milk to inhibit yeast development.) So I stuck the bowl into the oven with the light turned on and we had breakfast. (continue reading…)

summary: a thrilling Christmas present: “precision pocket scale” that measures in tenths of grams!! (click on images to see larger views and more photos)

Santa was here!! Santa was here!! I now have a scale that measures in fractions of grams!

Last year, I was complaining that I couldn’t buy such a scale. One shop-keeper I asked told me that the Canadian government wouldn’t let me buy one. But it turns out the shop-keeper was mistaken. We CAN buy such a scale! (We just needed to know what to ask for and what department to go to… ie: NOT the kitchen department…. ) (continue reading…)

summary: Merry Christmas to All!! Do you hear what I hear? (click on images to see larger views and more photos)

Ha!! I made it!!! And just under the wire too. The table is set for tonight and I just pulled beautiful looking pulla out of the oven – all ready for tomorrow morning.

‘Twas the night before Christmas
and all through the house,
Not a cre….

Errmmm…. It’s not midnight yet; did you hear that jingling sound?

But really. What on earth would possess supposedly thinking adults to get a kitten four weeks before Christmas? (I just pulled the little thing out from behind the printer) Yes…. It’s true, we have no minds.

Yesterday, in between pulling the cat off the dining room table or luring him away from the string of shiny green beads on the stairs (“Here Kitty Kitty!! Don’t you want to play with this nice hacky sack ball?”), I mixed cookie and bread dough, wrapped presents, vaccuumed and decorated the house as best I could, thinking all the while that it just isn’t the same without a tree. (continue reading…)

Note to self: When converting sandwich bread into a two day process, leave the sandwich bread starter on the counter or in the FRIDGE overnight. Under no circumstances should it go in the oven with only the light turned on.

OR, (continue reading…)