Saturday, 19 October 2019

We Are the Prodigal Ones (WFD, October 2019)

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feed the hungrysummary: Thai-style curry; October’s bounty; leftovers are delicious; just say no to plastic; World Food Day(s) 2019;

How can we allow food to be thrown away when more than 820 million people in the world continue to go hungry every day?
 
– Qu Dongyu, FAO Director-General, State of Food and Agriculture report, 2019

Last Monday was Thanksgiving in Canada. And last Wednesday was World Food Day (WFD). Initially, I had planned to include something about WFD when posting about the October’s BBB bread. But my verbosity (oh so many words) got away from me. And I forgot.

Which is inexcusable.

We cannot forget that we are the fortunate few who have plenty, when there are still many who are in dire need. Needlessly so, but not because they are negligent. It is because we are negligent.

There is no good reason that this should be. Nobody in the world should be going hungry! (continue reading →)

Wednesday, 16 October 2019

Apple Bread with Cider and Not-Calvados (BBB October 2019)

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BBB October 2019 - Let's keep baking! summary: recipe for Apple Bread with Cider and Not-Calvados, based on Jan Hedh’s recipe for Äppelbröd med cider och calvados; translation nightmares; extra dry cider; being a skin-flint; making substitutions; my verbosity: taking ‘long and rambling’ to an extreme; I ♥ Thanksgiving leftovers; information about Bread Baking Babes and World Bread Day;

Bread Baking Babes (BBB): Apple Bread with Cider and Calvados

The winter will be short, the summer long, The autumn amber-hued, sunny and hot, Tasting of cider and of scuppernong; All seasons sweet, but autumn best of all. – Elinor Wylie

BBB October 2019

The nights may be getting cooler, but the sun is still shining, and the leaves have hardly changed colour!

I love the angle of the light at this time of year. Even at midday, there is a golden tone on everything. Especially at the farmers’ markets, with the tables filled with stunningly beautiful squashes, beets, beans, pears, and lovely red, red apples. Apples galore. (continue reading →)

Wednesday, 18 September 2019

Still Wildly Baking… Tartine Bread, revisited

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Sourdough September summary: recipe for Tartine Bread recipe, revisited; our Jane Mason starter is over 2 years old and still going strong; Sourdough September;

It’s true that I am a repeat offender of saccharomycicide (2008, 2012). But I am proof (no pun intended) that rehabilitation works! It has now been more than two years that we have been making bread almost exclusively with our Jane Mason starter begun in July 2017.

The few times over the past two years that we have used commercial yeast instead of wild yeast have been slightly more reliable: rising quickly, and creating really lofty breads. But the resulting bread made with commercial yeast doesn’t taste and smell quite as wonderful – it’s just a little one-dimensional.

Thus, sourdoughness isn’t just confined to September! (Did you notice my attempt at eliminating “so” from the beginning of that sentence? I hope so; I hope so. :-) )

Most of the time, the recipe we use is based on one in Chad Robertson’s wonderful book, “Tartine Bread”. Every time we make the bread using our Jane Mason starter, it is stellar. But it occurred to me recently that I have ever so slightly revised what I have done to Robertson’s recipe – to make things easier for us and to make the bread taste better than ever.

Tartine Bread (continue reading →)

Monday, 16 September 2019

Wild Pull-apart Bread (BBB September 2019)

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Sourdough September BBB: Let's Keep Baking summary: Nailed it! …do as I say, not as I did; recipe for Wild Pull-apart Bread; or is it called ‘share and tear’? …a Bread Baking Babes (BBB) project; bookmarked recipe; Sourdough September;

Bread Baking Babes’ Wild Pull-apart Bread, September 2019

…pull-apart bread. I can eat this all day! – Monica Khoo, FB Sourdough Bread Baking

Bookmarked Recipes - last Sunday of the MonthBookmarked Recipes: Sourdough pull-apart bread

It feels like eons ago that I bookmarked Monica Khoo’s fabulous looking pull-apart bread I saw on FB’s group Sourdough Bread Baking. And, in computer terms, it was eons; it was over a year ago….

Monica Khoo's Sourdough pull-apart bread It was high time for me to give this bread a go. And who better to join in the deliciousness than the BBBabes? After all, we have our starters in good condition from August’s BBB project. (continue reading →)

Thursday, 12 September 2019

If at first you don’t succeed…

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Sourdough September summary: attempt at making wild bread with only white flour; it turns out that our Jane Mason wild starter is a picky eater, but at least it isn’t insisting on being gluten-free; it’s Sourdough September

Baking with sourdough is a life-long journey and every day is exciting, […] and once you make your starter you can keep it for life! – Jane Mason, All You Knead is Bread

Soul Bread Company Humber Bayshores Farmers Market July 2019

The night after we finished the last of the Soul Bread Company bread (it was especially delicious when we sliced that last bit of the loaf, drizzled the slices with olive oil and grilled them on the barbecue), we built up our Jane Mason whole wheat starter to make bread the next day. Because while Man can’t live on bread alone, no bread at all sure does make living not so worthwhile.

We’ll go back to baking our own wild non-sour bread. It’s easily as good, if not better. And, considering that we get 10 kilograms of unbleached “no-additive” all-purpose flour for about $10, our bread is a fraction of the price of the Soul Bread Company sourdough bread [at $6.50 (!!) per loaf]. […] [But] next time we bake bread, at T’s request, I’m going to build up our Jane Mason wholewheat starter with all-purpose flour instead of 100% whole wheat flour. We suddenly want to learn what our wild bread is like if it is made with almost all white flour.
 
– me, blog from OUR kitchen | Virtually Photo-less Not Friday: Tasting Somebody Else’s Sourdough

On that night, I took the usual spoonful of the wholewheat starter and fed it with equal parts unbleached all-purpose flour and water. (continue reading →)