Confession

   I have a confession to make. I bought and used dough from the grocery store ::gasp::. I know - it's embarassing. I had intentions of making my own dough for calzone and stromboli while we had company in town...but we had such a fun and exhausting day that I was too tired to mess with it. So, I picked up a few bags of dough from the publix bakery (good substitute).

   We made a chicken and broccoli cheddar stromboli - 3 diced chicken breasts, cooked; 1 can broccoli cheddar condensed soup; 1 head of cooked broccoli; 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese and a 1/3 cup milk. I used a technique with the dough that I saw on my new favorite website "Pinterest.com". You roll out the dough into a rectangle, and then cut slices on the sides, leaving a solid piece of dough in the center for your filling. Pour the filling in the middle and lace the strips over each other like so:

Bake @ 375 on a pizza stone for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and easy to lift with spatula.

   For the calzone filling - 16 oz. ricotta; 8 oz. shredded mozarella; one egg; garlic powder; salt and pepper to taste. Roll the dough out into a large circle. Pour cheese filling onto one side (half) and fold over other side, pinching to seal the dough like so:

Bake @ 375 on a pizza stone for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and easy to lift with spatula.



Entertaining

   I hosted a Pampered Chef party Sunday - my first one. The consultant wanted to bring bread dipping sauces so I decided to make homemade French bread. Although my last few attempts had bombed, I gave it another shot. I also wanted to provide a dessert since the party was around dinner time. Instead of digging out someone else's recipe, I brainstormed to make my own and came up with strawberry cheesecake dessert pizza with homemade cinnamon pizza dough, which we could make on a Pampered Chef pizza stone! Win.

   French bread attempt #8 - I used the second recipe I tried months ago, but this time I followed the instructions more closely, only adding half the flour mixture to the yeast mixture forming a batter and let rise for 3 hours. After 3 hours, I added the rest of the flour, kneaded into a dough, let rise again for 1 hour. Knead again. Cut into 3 pieces and shape into baguettes. Let rise for 1 more hour. Cut diagonal slashes on the tops of the loaves. Prepare the oven at 450 and place a baking sheet on the lowest rack. Move the other rack to the top of the oven. Once the oven is preheated, place your loaves on the top rack. Throw and hand full of ice cubes on the bottom baking sheet. This will create a steam in your oven that gives you a really nice, crispy crust. Bake 25 minutes. The loaves came out perfect for the dipping sauce and the ladies loved it.

   Dessert pizza attempt #1 - I prepared my pizza dough as usual except I only used 1/4 the amount of salt and added 1 tablespoon of sugar and a tablespoon of cinnamon. I let it rise for 3 hours, knead, rise 1 hour, knead, rise 1 hour. As my guests arrived, I was just stretching my dough to fit the retangular stone baking pan. I baked the dough at 350 for about 12 minutes, then added the sweetened cream cheese, crushed graham cracker crumbs and strawberry sauce. I baked that for another 10 minutes. Using a plastic spatula, lift the crust to check the underside for doneness. Top with fresh strawberries and cut into medium squares. Serve warm. Note: Although this was my first time making this dessert and I wasn't following a recipe, it came out really well. It was really delicious - just the right amount of sweet and cinnamon :)

Tasting Party

   Fall is on its way and I've had several customers and friends ask "When will you have pumpkin bread?". The answer is, now! I actually received three recipe suggestions from a few friends, all for pumpkin bread. How in the world could I decide which to make for market by this weekend? A tasting party of course!
   Last night, I went by the grocery store to pick up a few cans of pure pumpkin, a few extra spices (cloves and all spice), and some whole milk (don't use skim milk for cooking!). I made each recipe, one at a time. After mixing the ingredients, I placed each loaf pan full of batter next to its recipe so I could keep track of them, as I prepared the oven.

   All three recipes called for a 25-30 minute bake time. However, each of them was originally for either muffins or cupcakes. So, when baking something in a more concentrated form, like in a loaf pan, you will need more time. It took about 45-50 for a toothpick to come out clean. After 10 minutes of cooling, the loaves slid right out of the pan onto my cooling rack.

   For the tasting party, I lined a large cookie sheet with tin-foil and placed the loaves on it, labeling them Pumpkin #1, Pumpkin #2 and Pumpkin #3. One recipe (the one for cupcakes) had seperate directions for cinnamon cream cheese frosting. I originally wanted to put cream cheese INSIDE the bread, but opted not to because I couldn't keep it cool all day - especially for market. My husband had the brilliant idea of making a cream cheese spread and offering it with market samples and then having a few 8 oz. tubs for sale. So I made a cream cheese spread as a variation to the icing (not nearly as much confectioners sugar) to accompany the loaves to the tasting party.

   Aside from one person, the office unanimously loved Pumpkin #3, which was the suggested recipe of my good friend Lisa Berg. Thank you Lisa! #1 and #2 were very similar except one called for water and the other called for milk. #3 called for 5 different spices, which clearly came out in the delicious fall flavor of the bread. Some feedback indicated #1 & #2 were a little more moist and that would be b/c they were made with a 1/2 cup more oil than #3.

   Conclusion: Pumpkin #3 will be the recipe for market, however I will add just another 1/4 cup or so of oil to make it as moist as the other two in the trial. The cinnamon cream cheese spread was also a huge hit and I think I will have to bring some to market, whenever I offer the pumpkin bread. They go wonderfully together! Yu-umm!

Roll With The Punches!

   For last weekend's market, I fully intended on making zucchini bread. However, I completely forgot to get my supplies on Thursday and then on Friday, forgot to stop at Willoughby's Produce on the way home from work to get zukes. I checked online and Publix wanted $1.99/lb for it :( I made it to Sam's - they don't even have zucchini. So, I found myself standing there in the produce section, blocking other shoppers with my stand-still brainstorming session, when it hit me....apple spice! 10 pounds of apples and a bag of walnuts later, I was headed home to try something new.

   I have made a cinnamon apple crumb before, but as I previously blogged, it is complicated and not cost effective. This new variation does not include an apple layer in the middle, but rather diced apples throughout the bread with a very light and not so complicated brown sugar and walnut crumb on top. Not nearly as much butter required for this one. (The cost of butter is practically $1/stick!) I also made some muffins for market. And the samples were a huge hit!

   Since my last blog about garlic loaf, I have tried it again and made it with 2 heads of roasted garlic in each loaf and also basted it in chunky garlic butter. Two!? You might say. Yes, two whole heads of roasted garlic, thus: Double Garlic Loaf. It smelled amazing! Instead of splitting the dough in half and baking it in round cake pans, I hand formed a torpedo loaf with one whole recipe of dough. I prepared three loaves and baked them next to each other on a large cookie sheet. They sort of bake together on the sides and you have to pull them apart when they come out of the oven - this is called a sister loaf. They looked and smelled amazing and sold really quick at market. Win!

Taking Suggestions

   Market day went pretty well. My last two were really slow and I ended up taking loaves home, so this weekend I made less and sold out. Win. As the weather cools off, it will pick up again and so will sales. Ah, the risks and rewards of being a small business. I also had a little help this week from a girlfriend visiting from Tallahassee @Stephanie Dion.
   Several weeks ago, my cousin who lives in Connecticut @Kristen Fisher Sperling, told me about a farmer's market she went to with her family and they saw a baker there who made a garlic loaf. Whole cloves of roasted garlic kneaded into the bread. It sounds fantastic! They bought some and said it was fantastic. While at market this weekend, a customer suggested making a garlic loaf that he had seen somewhere else and described a very similar bread. Possible a focaccia style with the garlic in it.
   So, tempation got the better of me. Steph and I went to the grocery store on the way home to pick up some fresh garlic for the experiment. I prepared a focaccia dough and roasted a head of garlic in the toaster oven for about 30 minutes until it was nice and mushy (sprinkle with olive oil and tent it with tinfoil). I peeled the paper off and made a garlic paste to knead into the dough. I let it rise for about an hour and then kneaded it again before dividing it in half and placing the halves into two round cake pans. Let it rise for another 30 minutes and then poked dimples in the tops with fingertips. Baked at 375 for 30 minutes on the middle rack.
   We cut it almost immediately. Although the bread itself was baked perfectly with just the right consistancy for focaccia, much to our disappointment the garlic taste was barely noticeable. Booo. Ian made a sandwich out of it and said it was really good. It will be awesome with tomato soup tonight.
   Next try - I'll roast 2 heads of garlic for the dough, in addition to using a garlic butter baste for the top before baking. I also think I'll form the dough into torpedo loaves instead of using round pans. If at first you don't succeed, try again!
  

Ciabatta

   I would like to offer a few bags of dinner rolls at market so I started with a ciabatta recipe - from the Bread Bible of course. It required a starter of yeast, water, flour, salt and a drop of honey. A variation listed that I could choose to use bread flour for a "chewier crust and bread". I personally like chewy bread so I opted for that.
   Next day: The dough hardly rose at all in the two hours after I mixed the starter sponge with more flour and dry ingredients. I was using it to make 4 small dinner rolls so I just cut the small piece into 4 smaller pieces and let it rise another hour. Not much rising :o/   20 minutes in the oven at 375 and they were hard as a rock. I was kind of disappointed but I tried a little trick I've learned. I put them in a plastic storage bag while they were still piping hot to steam them into softness. Although that did work, I still wasn't crazy about the outcome. They were too dense for ciabatta and really chewy. Too chewy.
   I'm going to try it with A/P flour next time instead of the bread flour chewy option and see how that comes out. If I'm still not happy with it, I'll find another recipe.

   Conclusion: No ciabatta rolls for market this week. But I will have herb focaccia bread - great for paninis!

Garlic Herb Focaccia

Market People

   I'd be lying if I said I don't enjoy people watching in places like the mall and the airport. So the farmer's market is no different. A lot of my day at market is spent observing the various styles and personas of the consumers bustling along the sidewalk. If you have been to a farmer's market, perhaps you have seen these folks too.

Medusa - With her untamed reddish brown locks bobbing as she goes, she prances from vendor to vendor in no particular pattern. She is wearing a hot pink shirt that slightly shows her 45 year old midriff. Her jeans have rhinstones on the butt and her electric pink kitten heel sandals clickety clack under her towering body. She almost dances as she walks. Her fingernails are long and unkept. When she visits my booth, she inquires about "what my bread is made of and where do I make it and why do I have it in plastic bags that hold moisture and create mold?" Sheesh lady. She eventually parked herself on a bench and had a lengthy conversation with an invisible gnome while she thumbed through the things in her tin can purse before marching off into the city.

Dog lovers anonymous - Many patrons bring their dogs to market. Why shouldn't they?! A place where dogs are welcome and it's a great way to socialize them and even pick up a treat or two. There are several vendors just for dogs like Maddie's Backyard, who offers free snacks and a drinking station for your pup! I picked up a stuffed monkey toy for Willow there this weekend. Another pup vendor has tutus for dogs. Literally a frilly skirt for dogs - they come in all colors, even for Gator lovers! Some market-goers share their purchases with their dogs like Kernel and Kettle's kettle corn or Sugar and Spice's delicious cupcakes.

The Unfortunate - The sad truth is that Ocala is home to many homeless people. Some of them visit market looking for free samples (I gladly offer) or scraps from vendors and patrons alike. My first day at market, two officers from Ocala PD woke up a man sleeping under the gazebo. They told him he had to leave so I gave him a muffin for his travels. Saturday I saw a woman pulling a rolling basket with all of her belongings inside. She was wearing a purple velvet adults' Halloween costume that she likely bought at a thrift store. Something about her grownup princess costume was kind of charming.

Big Accessories - Several young mothers attend market each Saturday with their toddlers in tote. For some of them, I feel that this outing may be the only public outing they experience all week long, only because they rock every large and flashy accessory they own at once. Big floppy hat, giant purse with bling, a five-piece set of costume jewelry, giant flower headband on baby, oversized Vera Bradley tote with matching diaper bag. They have to be hot and miserable carrying/pushing all that stuff around in 95 degrees with virtually no wind factor.

Husband Helpers - Quite a few of the market vendors are women entrepreneurs. Jewelry makers, bakers, crafty ladies with painted scarves and bags, lotion and soap chemists and gardeners. But setting up for market day is really hard to do alone. (Possible because I do, but it's very difficult and stressful) So, many of them enlist their husbands to come early and help. Sugar and Spice is run by two stay at home moms and they alternate weeks running their cupcake shop at market. But it never fails, every week, at least one husband is there at 7 a.m. dragging tables across the lawn and fluffing tablecloths. He passes, she arranges. They make an adorable team. One young baker who also sells Amish butters, jellies and dips gets help from her spouse who gladly brings her supplies in their pink, 1968 VW mystery van. She kisses his scruffy beard before bidding him adieu for the day.

   That's one of the great things about market. It's so flavorful. Not just the tasty items for sale...but the people too!

A Giant Production

   My baking production has gotten so big, I've called in backup. My mom has come over for the last two Fridays to help with market day preperations. She serves as zucchini chopper, dish washer, counter cleaner and wine glass filler upper :) I was actually done with 30 loaves of bread by 10pm Friday night. That's insanity and I couldn't have done it without her. We were even able to attend a birthday bash that evening because I was done so early. Thank you Mary Fisher!!

   I've definately nailed down the routine. At 5:20 on Friday afternoon, my home kitchen transforms into a commercial bakery. I prepare 12 recipes of carrot cranberry in two seperate batches (six recipes per batch) in my giant aluminium mixing bowls. I use the same recipe for carrot cranberry as I do for zucchini, I just substitute the carrots for zucchini and cranberries for walnuts. Zucchini bread is one of my newest additions following multiple requests. I wish I had made it earlier in the summer, because now the price of zucchini is climbing and I can't afford to make it much longer. It's definately a seasonal recipe.

 

   

 I also added a wheat multigrain to my menu. It sold very well and I think I will continue to rotate it with the potato oatmeal so my "Oat Lovers" always have an option. I had trouble in the past finding wheat flour in bulk (Publix only carries a 5 lb. bag and Sam's doesn't carry it at all) but last week I found it at Cheney Brothers in a 50 lb. bag! I'm set for a while :)

   I'm in great need of more counter space. For now I am improvising by stacking my rising dough in bowls using my wire cooling racks.

   We are taking a weekend trip to the Georgia Mountains to spend some time with my parents so no market this weekend. I'll be back on the square August 27, possibly with ciabatta and/or focaccia herb bread. You'll have to come by to find out!







Wheat Multigrain

   Although my potato oatmeal bread was doing very well at market, I've had several requests for a wheat bread or something with more grains in it. I found a cracked wheat recipe in my Bread Bible and tweeked it to include other grains like oats and flaxseed. My goal was to make a trial loaf and if it came out well, I would make four for market. This bread requires a sponge (starter) and I let it rest overnight on Wednesday - the longer the sponge ferments, the tastier the outcome. Thursday afternoon, I added the dry ingredients and formed a rough dough. The Bread Bible outlined an extensive rise and knead, rise and knead process that would have taken me well into the early morning, so I cut a few hours out. After letting the rough dough rest for 20 minutes, I did two sets of knead and rise for an hour per rise. By 9:30pm it was ready for the oven.

   Using a sharp knife, I slit two openings on the top and glazed it with egg whites before sprinkling rolled oats. Brushing egg whites on a loaf before baking results in a golden brown glow - It makes for a very nice presentation.

   I free formed the loaf and baked it at 350 for about 45 minutes. The crust came out nice and crispy, but I was too tired to wait for it to cool and then put it in a container. So by placing it in a container while still hot, the loaf steamed itself and softened the crust (A great trick for anyone who does not prefer a firm crust). I cut the first slice this morning. It was soft and moist with a chewy crust. The grains added a really nice texture and flavor. Folks at work thought it was tasty and I already received an order from someone who tasted it this morning :) I will definately have it at market this weekend!

Market Day 4

   After taking two weekends off for a vacation in the Keys, I hit market day head-on. While on vacay, I received a call from a customer who wanted to preorder four loaves of carrot cranberry bread to pick up at the market. A few days before market, that customer called back and added two loaves of banana walnut to his order. I also made four extra loaves of potato oatmeal bread since it was in such high demand at the last market. So, I made a whopping 30 loaves of bread, plus 8 mini loaves and a dozen muffins. Yikes.
   I got started the moment I got home from work at 5:15pm and didn't quit until about midnight. My Aunt Jeane (who had come to town as a surprise) and my mom came over Friday night to help. It was a little hectic because they didn't know my routine, but the help was MUCH appreciated. I usually start with the potato bread and let it rise while I work on the carrot bread. After I bake both of those, I move on to whatever else is left besides the sourdough, which is baked Saturday morning for ultimate freshness :)
   The morning of market, I sold eight loaves by 8:30am. Sounds like a great day, right? Well, between 9-11am, the foot traffic was extremely slow. I was scared I was taking home half of what I brought. But around 11, it picked up a little and slowly but surely, the loaves started to sell again. Some customers bought more than one because they couldn't decide which kind sounded more yummy! The lady who runs the kettle corn stand came over to get a loaf of sourdough. She asked me to cut a few slices so her and her husband could nibble on it for lunch. Gladly, I did. About 20 minutes later, she came back over with the loaf in her hand. I was terrified that she was unhappy with her bread and was coming back to complain about it. So I was really pleased to hear "Can you cut a few more slices for me - it's just so delicious". Wheew! She also mentioned she wanted to try the potato oatmeal, so at the end of the day I bartered a loaf for some kettle corn :) I only took home one loaf of sourdough - which we sent home with Ian's brother and wife - and three muffins, much to Ian's delight.
  
   Lessons learned:
1. My banana nut recipe only makes half of what I thought it did. I multiplied it by 6 and only got 3 loaves out of it. So next time, I have to double it for each recipe.
2. I need more loaf pans. I simply cannot do what I need to in the time I have with what I've got right now!
3. I calculated the cost of my carrot cranberry bread ingredients. I invest $3.30 in each loaf, so I raised the price to $6 to make it worth my time. It seems to be the most popular and no one minded the price increase.

   Quotes of the Day:
"I'll take two more muffins. My three year old told me she 'had to have more of it'. I love how you're hiding vegetables in your muffins!"
Woman to her husband: "Honey, do you want sourdough or potato oatmeal?" Husband: "I don't know. They both look great. Um, I think potato oatmeal." Wife: "Really? I was thinking sourdough." Exchanged looks of disagreement. Wife: "We'll take one of each," with a big smile on her face. Talk about conflict resolution!
  
   I have received a request for zucchini bread and also a wheat multigrain. I will attempt one or both of those this week and have something new to offer at market next week. Stay tuned!

Market Day 3

   I'm sorry to say I have been neglecting my blogging responsibilities. But it has been a little hectic around here! I had cousins in town for a few days after Market Day 2 and then left immediately for a wedding in Destin <3. Then I got busy planning for Market Day 3 and another wedding going on in the Keys, which we're leaving for next Monday.
   So, here is the low down on Market Day 3: I offered the staples - sourdough and potato oatmeal. I nixed the rye because it was not as desirable as some of my other flavors. I'll bring it back occasionally. I absolutely had carrot cranberry since my samples did so well at Markey Day 2 and people were very disappointed after it sold out. This week I made 6 large loaves, 8 minis and a dozen muffins (just of the carrot cranberry). By 11 am, gone. Poof. Sold out. My potato oatmeal also sold very quickly. I'm guessing because it looks so golden brown and covered in oats, people think it's "healthier" for you than other breads. Total, I had 22 large loaves, 8 minis and the muffins. I went home with one loaf of sourdough, which we are currently enjoying at home.
   Lesson of the week: Cinnamon apple crumb is not a market day bread. First of all, this recipe does not mass produce well. The measurements don't work out well for some reason. I quadroupled everything - to the T. However, I only had enough batter for 3 loaves. Odd. But I had enough cinnamon crumb filling and topping for 5 or 6. Makes no sense, right? It's a very time consuming recipe because of the apple peeling and crumb making, layering everything; it stresses me out. I felt behind on everything else because of this one bread. Then there's the cost! There is $1 worth of butter in EACH LOAF! Plus the cost of fresh apples at $1.99/lb and walnuts at $7.99/lb. Forget it. I'd have to charge $8+ for each loaf to make any profit and no one would pay that. From now on, cinnamon apple crumb is by special order only - and only for friends and family orders. This bread is too valuable for strangers :)

   Quotes from Market Day 3:
Jen: "Would you like to try some carrot cranberry bread?"  Lady passerby: "Some who-da-what?!" Jen: "Carrot. Cranberry. Bread." Lady passerby makes a confused face and says, "That sounds weird..." I hand her a toothpick with a tasty cube of bread on the end. She makes a face like she had a mouth full of mud. (This face has NEVER happened to me before in the life of my bread making) I say, "You don't like it?" Lady passerby says, "It's....different." Long pause. She says, "How much are the muffins? Give me two." (Laugh of the day.)

Guy vendor: "Do you have something over here like a carrot something?" Jen: "Yes sir, I have some carrot cranberry bread. Would you like to try some?" Guy vendor: "No, skip the sample. My wife is over there raving about this bread. Just give me a loaf."

Husband and wife caterers stop by. They deliberate over trying a sample. They do and then I hook them. Jen: "Pretty good, huh?" Wife: "Ugh-mmmm. This is so good! I don't know if I should get any. I'm on a diet." More deliberation. Husband: "Just get a mini loaf. We'll split it and have a few bites and it will be gone." Wife: "Okay, give me the large loaf." Husband rolls his eyes. Wife: "And..." Husband: "AND? What are we doing here? I thought..." Wife: "Shhh! The potato oatmeal. Oh, this looks good. Thank you." They walk off bickering. LMAO.

I will be at maket this coming Saturday with sourdough, potato oatmeal, carrot cranberry (I'm thinking of making it my signature) and specialty flavor of the week will be banana nut - with SAMPLES! :) This week I may try to make ciabatta rolls and if they work out, I'll have bags of sandwich rolls as well. Stay tuned for that blog!

Market Day 1

   My very first farmer's market day was this past Saturday. It was quite a success for me. I came with 16 loaves and 2 dozen muffins - I sold out of all my loaves and had only a few muffins left. Among the variery was sourdough, potato oatmeal, rye, carrot raisin, banana nut, cinnamon apple crumb and lemon poppyseed. Let me say this, I bit off a little more than I could chew. Friday night was mayhem in my kitchen! I had a breakdown at about 11:30 p.m.

The Baker's Workshop

   Because this was my first bread sale, I think I wanted to show people everything I was capable of at once and made too many kinds of bread for my own good. Reflecting on lessons I learned in my kitchen Friday night, I think I'll do things differently this week.

Carrot Raisin Bread

   Lesson 1: Initially, I thought that the specialty breads would be easier to make, because for most of them I can dump all the ingredients together, mix and bake. But it turns out, these are the recipes that caused me to go into a psychosis and lose my mind late into the night. One specialty bread, fine. But 4 was insanity. There were so many different ingredients for each one. I ran myself ragged preparing all the ingredients and cleaning bowls and utensils. Mayhem! I zested 12 lemons for my lemon poppyseed muffins and thought my arm was going to fall off. I had to clean my food processor 3 times, once after carrots, cinnamon crumb and banana puree. I ended up cutting my production for specialty breads in half because I was simply defeated by midnight. From now on, I will offer one specialty bread each week and rotate my menu weekly.

Sourdough Rising

   Lesson 2: The yeast breads like sourdough are a lot less work in reality. Even though they take a few days for the knead and rise process, the time and aggravation is significantly less. AND one recipe usually make 2 or more loaves. So financially, the cost for production is less, allowing me to sell them for a bit less than the specialty breads. Originally I had them priced $2 higher.
   Lesson 3: Make less muffins. Although my sample lemon poppyseed muffins were a hit and drew people in, the jumbo muffins didn't sell that well. I made 24 and came home with 9 and actually gave a few away - 2 to my hair dresser and one to a homeless man. My friend Kim came to the market to help me and I sent her home with a box of them. So, maybe half a dozen next time.

Welcome to the market!

   My vendor space at the market was awesome. I was smack in the middle of the market set up and on a high-traffic aisle. The only bummer was there was another bread vendor (commercial bread though - not homemade) on the main entry aisle and he caught a few customers that may have otherwise bought from me. Some even said so, after they had made their purchase. They told me "Next week, we'll come here first!"
   Some remarks I got from customers after their purchase included:

   "Your bread was soooo good that I broke my diet and ate it all day," - Kelly Teale, Fresh Vintage Hair Salon, downtown Ocala.

   "The cinnamon apple crumb bread was like a 'foodgasm' in my mouth," - friend of Christina Martinez, who received the bread as a gift.

   "Here it is, the best bread in Ocala," - Sharon Bruce, a coworker who spotted my booth at the market.

  Another great thing, is that people at work have started placing orders! Friday afternoon, I announced via email to some of the ladies at the office that I would be at the market. A few suggested I bring bread into work on Fridays or Mondays to sell to the folks who couldn't make it to the market. One of them, placed an order for rosemary foccacia bread and paid in advance! I happily baked it last night and delivered it this morning :) Several people from work stopped by the market to show support and buy some bread. I appreciate that so much!

   I believe this week I will try to master the french baguette, since my last attempt was a complete bomb. If perfected, I will have it at market this weekend. Stay tuned!

Experiment Success

   We had company come to town last night and I really wanted to make her a treat. I also wanted to experiment with a good muffin recipe for the summer, something that would sell well at the farmer's market. I decided to play with my blueberry muffin recipe and tweak it for lemon poppyseed bread/muffins.
   Even though I doubled my ingredients, it still only made enough for 6 jumbo muffins. I would probably have to quadrouple it for market day. I was "winging it" as they say when it came to the amount of lemon zest and poppyseeds. I loosely followed a recommendation from a scone recipe I found. Flour, sugar, eggs, baking soda, vanilla, pinch of salt and butter. The key ingredient is sour cream, surprisingly. It keeps the muffins nice and moist inside. Great muffins should be a little sticky on top when they're done.
   I was so pleased with the way they came out, I sent four in a bakery box as a gift with my friend to take to her mom in South Florida. I consider it my first out of town delivery :) Lemon poppyseed will now be added to the menu for market day!

Bread Moments is Off the Ground!

   I have officially launched my bread business! I've started slow by becoming a vendor at a local farmer's market on the Ocala downtown square. I ordered a banner and some t-shirts with my logo and I went to Cheney Bros. to pick up some packaging supplies like bags and pastry boxes. I will be on the square hustling to sell my loaves from 8am-1pm this Saturday, and every other Saturday I'm in town from now on.
   I'm thinking of offering samples for one or two types of bread. For sale: carrot raisin, cinnamon apple crumb (possibly in muffin and loaf form), banana nut, rye, sourdough and wheat sourdough, and potato oatmeal. Hopefully I sell out! Wish me luck :)

Getting Serious

   As my bread baking progresses, I am getting closer to having a "bread business". This week alone, I made corn bread muffins (to go with some turkey chilli we made) and two loaves of potato oatmeal bread. Both came out great! I made an extra loaf of the potato bread for a friend that's in town. So far, this bread is my favorite - very moist and chewy.
    I visited the new farmer's market on the Ocala downtown square this past weekend. It was awesome! There was fresh produce, baked goods, jewelry, genuine arts and crafts, and even plants for sale. I inquired about becoming a vendor and was ecstatic to find out the vendor space fee is only $20 and includes a tent! I would just need to bring tables and chairs. And bread of coarse! I plan on starting my sales in July and will include breakfast breads like the cinnamon apple crumb, carrot raisin, chocolate chip and then some sandwich breads like rye and sourdough. So excited!
   Also, my brother, who is a talented graphic designer, is helping me design a business logo. Once I get that banged out, I'll have business cards and packaging with my logo on it :) A facebook page will be the next step! Stay tuned and look for "Bread Moments" on the downtown square on Saturdays.

Chocolate Lovers Annonymous

   Occasionally I make a double recipe and send the 2nd loaf with Ian to work. His boss' wife has been requesting something chocolate and luckily, the next recipe on my list was chocolate chip bread! If you shy away from butter, this recipe is not for you. Flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, eggs, vanilla, cocoa powder and lots of butter. A single recipe requires a stick and a half.
   Bring 3 tbls of water to a boil and add 3 tbls of cocoa powder to make a paste. Let the paste cool, add the vanilla and eggs and beat well until a liquid sauce forms. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl and add the butter (softened) and half the chocolate sauce. Beat this on speed #4 or med/high. This will incorporate a lot of air and make the batter very light and fluffy. Add the rest of the chocolate sauce and remain beating on med/high until thoroughly mixed. Fold in a 1/4 cup of chocolate chips.
   Heavily grease your loaf pan and pour the batter in to fill the pan 1/2 inch from the top. In a preheated oven at 350 degrees, place the pans on a center rack. Bake for 25 minutes and then create a tinfoil tent to cover the top of the loaf so it does not over-brown. Cook for an addition 25 minutes.
   Review: This loaf was very tasty but a little dry. It had a light consistancy, almost like cake instead of bread. I was surprised to see no oil in the ingredients lists. I think I would add a 1/3 of cup the next time I try it.
  

Carrot Bread

   Next in my "batter breads" chapter of the Bread Bible was carrot bread. Flour, sugar, oil, baking powder and soda, salt, eggs, grated carrots and raisins. I didn't have any raisins but several bags of cranberry raisins so I substituted those. I sifted the dry ingredients together and then mixed the eggs, sugar and oil in my mixer on speed 2. I added the dry ingredients a cup at a time, mixing on low. Then the carrots - 3 1/2 cups! It seemed a bit much to me but I followed the directions. I folded the craisins in with a wooden spoon.
   In a well greased loaf pan - emphasis on well greased since the last loaf recipe practically came apart when removing it because it was stuck to the pan - pour the batter and fill the pan 1/2 inch from the top. Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven on a rack just below the middle. 55 minutes and BING! Perfect consistancy. Very moist but not undercooked-goey. I allowed it to cool overnight.
   In the morning, Ian and I both had a slice. To my surprise, very tasty! I'm not a big fan of carrot cake, so I was unsure of the carrot bread. It's slightly less sweet and has about twice the carrots as the cake version. It made for a very good breakfast bread and the office loved it! At the end of the day, I brought home what was left - only a 2-3 slices size piece. I ran to Wal-Mart for some things and by the time I got home, the whole thing was gone. I guess Ian really liked it too :)

French Bread Flop

   Ian and I were invited to dinner by his boss and wife at their home. They are fun people so we gladly accepted. I didn't want to come empty handed so I thought of bringing a bruschetta. Of course I would make the bread from scratch! Rarely can I bring myself to BUY bread from the store anymore. The French bread recipe in the Bread Bible required an overnight process I didn't have time for so I found a recipe online that I could do in less than 3 hours. How - you might ask - could one recipe require 2 days and the other, only 2 hours? The answer: The quick version is never the better version.
   I combined the simple ingredients of flour, yeast, salt and water. Seems simple enough? No. First of all, 6 cups of flour and 2 whole packages of yeast sounds disproportionate. But, I did it anyway. The dough was too dry from what I could tell as it kneaded in my Kitchen Aid mixer. I took it out and kneaded it by hand for about 10 minutes. In an oiled glass bowl, I covered the lump of dough with a kitchen towel and left it to rise for an hour. After it doubled in size, I punched it down and split the dough in half. It kind of "chunked apart" instead of stretching like elastic, as bread should. Right there, I knew it was too dry. As I rolled each chunk out to a rectangle, I kept my hands wet in an attempt to moisten the dough. After stretching it out, I rolled the rectangles length wise and tucked the ends in, placing the long loafs on the baking sheet, seam down. Also, I sprinkled the baking sheet with corn meal.
   I basted the tops with egg whites and with a sharp knife, made 4 slits in each loaf. I let them bake for about 20 minutes and then basted them again. The recipe said bake 40 minutes total. They were still pretty light in color so I gave them an extra 8 minutes. When I took them out of the oven, they were nice and hard on the outside. They LOOKED perfect, so I was excited. I cut an end piece only to find the center was really dense. Too dense for French Bread. It was like Playdough. I took a small piece to Ian and he wouldn't even eat it!
   I placed both loaves in a food storage bag - I don't know, thinking magic would happen overnight? This morning, the bread was exactly the same. Dense, heavy, bland and unappetizing. I was not serving this to Ian's boss and family who had graciously invited us over for a steak dinner!
   I threw it in the trash. But I am not discouraged! In the Bread Bible, the author talks about French bread and baguettes in several places and admits that it took her 25 attempts before she perfected French bread. I will try again. But today, it looks like I'll be stopping at Publix to grab a loaf for dinner.

Cinnamon Crumb, Yum!

   I have been making bread, randomly picking recipes from the Bread Bible in no particular order, just what sounds good. And now I'm having trouble keeping track of what I've made when, and what I'll make next. So, I have decided to go back to my original idea of baking my way through the book, cover to cover. The very first recipe was for a cinnamon crumb cake with apple filling. This was perfect for two reasons: 1 - We had family staying in town Tuesday night and the crumb cake would make a perfect Wednesday morning breakfast with coffee. 2 - A very good friend of mine was celebrating her last day at work as she is moving north for a better job opportunity. I made a second loaf to take to work for a morning snack. Also, this friend is one of my biggest bread fans and therefore deserved her own "going away bread."
   This recipe came from the "batter breads" section of the Bread Bible. It was a quick mix and bake. Ingredients included flour, white and brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, lots of butter, vanilla, and sliced apples. I started by making the crumble topping, combining the walnuts, cinnamon and sugar in a food processor until the nuts were cousely chopped. I reserved a cup of this mixture and set it aside and then added the butter and pulsed it a little longer to form the crumb. Then I let the crumb sit in the fridge to firm up a little while I made the batter.
   In 2 greased loaf pans, I poured half the batter, sprinkled the reserved nut mixture, layered the sliced apples and then covered it with the remaining batter. With a fork I sifted the crumble and topped the batter in the loaf pans. Bake for 50 minutes at 350 for perfection. However, I suppose I could have been more generous with the Pam when I greased the pans, because after cooling, the loaves were very difficult to get out of the pans. Ian "came to the rescue" and tried separating the bread from the pan with a knife. I was using a spatula. The crumble was crumbling! It was a mess. Our guests came into the kitchen to see what the fuss was. We couldn't let the delicious crumb topping go to waste so all four of us began scurrying around the counter, picking at the crumbs like little mice. It took a lot of self control to not pick apart the whole loaf and just eat it that way.
   The second loaf came out looking a little more presentable, so I took that one to work. My bread fans say it was the tastiest bake so far. Four days later, there is a small piece left in the bread container, and it's still very moist and delicious!

One Potato, Two Potato

   Ian and I are on this new diet. It's going good so far. Before we started it, I had bought a couple sweet patotoes that we are now not allowed to have. Instead of throwing them away or letting them go bad, I decided to make sweet potato bread - similar to potato bread but just a different kind of potato. I had 2, so I made a double recipe.
   We had a house project to do so I wrapped the sweet potatoes in tin foil and let them bake while we worked on the patio. I set a timer but left it in the kitchen, not wise. I totally forgot about it and by the time I remembered, I came in to check on them and the timer had gone off for so long it stopped itself and the sweet potatoes were pretty mushy. I peeled them and set them aside to mash. I prepared the sponge with flour, water, yeast and honey to ferment in the fridge for several hours. Back to the patio.
   In the afternoon I mixed more flour, dry milk and yeast and sprinkled it over the sponge. After letting it rest an hour, I added the butter and mashed sweet potatoes. With my Kitchen Aid mixer and dough hook, I kneaded it for 7-10 as the recipe called for. The dough was still very wet, almost like batter so I added more flour. Knead 1 minute. Still too wet, more flour. Knead 1 minute. Still too wet, more flour. Knead 1 minute. After what I thought was too much flour, I just dumped the orange goo into a greased glass bowl to be done with it. I was certain I had done something wrong....perhaps baking the potatoes too long and they were too soft? I don't know.
   The goo doubled in size within an hour and firmed up just a little. I added a bit more flour and gave it one last punch down before seperating it into 2 loaf pans. I covered it with plastic wrap and let it rise over night. This morning, it was all over everywhere. The oventop was covered in orange dough that had spilled over out of the loaf pans. What a mess to deal with at 6 am. (Dough is not fun to clean up) I preheated the oven to 475 with a baking stone in it. After my shower, I set the loaf pans in the oven on the piping hot baking stone and let the bread form a crisp outside. Five minutes later, I turned the oven down to 375 and finished baking the bread for 20 minutes.
   The loaves looked a little pathetic and I thought they wouldn't be cooked all the way in the middle because of how moist the dough had been. Much to my surprise, when we sliced a loaf to taste, perfection inside. The bread had an orange tint, but didn't really taste like sweet potato at all. The texture was dead on though - moist and chewy. My bread fans at work gave it a thumb's up.
   Baker's note: I would half the salt ingredient and sub sugar for the other half, just to give it a touch of sweetness. It seemed a tiny bit salty to me. Other than that, I'll make it again, the same way. 
  

Berrylicious

   I had a friend suggest strawberry bread. I initially thought of doing a swirl bread. But I'm not really sure what to substitute the strawberry for as extra liquid...maybe oil? I received another suggestion that I use the basic recipe for cinnimon raisin swirl but use strawberries instead of the cinnimon goo. During my pondering, the same friend who suggested using the swirl recipe, gave me a recipe she found somewhere for strawberry bread, made similar to banana bread. I looked over the recipe and made some of my own changes.
   I don't think nuts go with strawberries so I 86'd them. Also, it called for 2 cups of sugar which is kind of rediculous, so I halved that but added a teaspoon of vanilla. I also cut back on the oil, from 1 and 1/4 cups to 1 cup. In most cases, you should mix the dry ingredients seperately from the wet ingredients and then fold wet into the dry. I did this and then added the chopped strawberries. I beat it a few extra minutes to sort of "mush" the berries into the batter. I greased 2 loaf pans and baked the bread for an hour at 350.
   In 50 minutes they looked beautiful, slightly cracked on the top (much like banana bread). I let them cool on a wire rack and then cut a few slices and served them warm to Ian and his parents, who happened to be visiting for dinner. Ian said - and I quote - "It's almost just like my grandma's banana bread, as far as how good it is..." This makes me smile.
   My personal critique - it was a little dry, perhaps because I skimped on the oil. But I think next time I will add some applesauce and bake it maybe 10 minutes less. The berries were very tasty and not bitter at all. The sweetness was right on the money, so I think I made a good call by halfing the sugar content.
   P.S. I made a personal delivery of a big slice of the strawberry bread to the friend who suggested it :)

Tools of the Trade

   I baked a lot of sourdough bread this weekend. Six loaves to be exact - which is really only two recipes and gave most of it away (so don't judge). I made regular sourdough Saturday morning and took a loaf to my boss and his family, a loaf to my parents and kept one at the house. Sunday morning I made a batch of wheat sourdough. I gave a loaf to my in-laws and another to my parents. I made so much because I feed the starter in my fridge every 5-8 days with 2 cups of ingredients so if I don't use it every few weeks, it's just too much.
   What I love about making bread, aside from the stress relief of the kneading process, the smell of my house when it bakes and the bread itself, is the warm feeling I get when I think of my loved ones who have given me the tools I use to bake. For example, a year and a half ago, long before I became obsessed with bread, my dad bought me the red Kitchen Aid mixer I had been lusting for (not to make bread though) as a gift for my bridal shower. I now use this machine at least once a week, and think of how great and loving my dad is - what a great provider he has always been.
   Most of my mixing bowls and measuring cups were gifts from my mother. She loves to buy me "kitcheny" things. She has given me countless fun utensils; a cookie punch, cake pans with squares you arrange to form things in cake batter, a giant cupcake mold, a cupcake kit used for designing cupcakes into various cake shapes, tiny jelly spoons and wisks, holiday-themed dish rags and hot pads, the list goes on. Anyway, I think of her when I use my measuring cups and bowls and how she puts the fun in everything. I get my "fun side" from her. I usually wear an apron when I bake and most of them came from her as well.
  Again, before I expressed my desire to make bread, my husband Ian got me a pastry mat for Christmas. I loved it! I wondered what I could use it for....and months later, it's one of those tools I use weekly. (He also got me the double boiler I asked Santa for) Highlighted in a previous blog, my husband bought me my Bread Bible, the baking stone I use for crispy crusts, my wooden oven paddle and several other things I love to bake/cook with. He seems to understand the joy it brings me to work in the kitchen and so it brings him joy to give me the tools I need to do it. He humors the excitement that stirs in me when I find deals like a Paula Dean red cast iron dutch oven at Sam's Club for only $35. That thing is heavy!
   Recently, my girlfriend Stephanie surprised me with a baked goods carrier, complete with a handle, snap sides and a monogram of our last name "LOWE" on the front surrounded in adorable polkadots. I also use this item weekly to take my bread treasures to work. It keeps the crumbs in one place and I can cover it up so passerbys don't wonder why my office looks like a bakery front.
   Now that I think of it, hardly any of the tools and gadgets I use are things that I've bought for myself. I have acquired most from friends and loved ones. I love this! It brings fond memories of them into my thoughts often and makes the process that much more enjoyable.

Banana Rama

   I took a break from bread baking to vacation with my amazing husband for our anniversary. Wouldn't you know, the day I got back to work I heard: "Where's the bread?!" It pleased me.
   Last night we finally got our house back in order, unpacked the suitcases and cleaned the kitchen. I pulled out the Bread Bible and turned to a banana muffin recipe. I had been saving some over-ripe bananas in the freezer so I pulled two out for a double recipe. There was a variation in the muffin recipe for chocolate banana swirl loaf. Both sounded yummy so I made enough batter to make both.
   It was a pretty quick recipe, much like a cake batter. Mix and bake. Bananas, sour cream, egg, vanilla, flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, salt and butter. Fold in the walnuts. My husband usually doesn't like to lick the spoon or bowl, but he really loves banana bread so he opted to taste this one :) I spooned some of the batter into a 12 count muffin pan and saved the rest for my chocolate swirl bread. I melted 2 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate and added it to half of the remaining batter. In a loaf pan, I layered the banana batter and chocolate batter. With a coffee stirring stick, I swirled them together in the pan.
   The loaf needed 45 minutes to bake but the muffins only took about 25. When they were done, I gave a muffin to Ian to taste and stored the rest in a tupperware container to take to work. The loaf came out looking delicious and chocolatey with little cracks in the top of it. I transfered it to a wire rack to cool and then wrapped it in tinfoil. I was a little worried the tinfoil would keep it too warm and continue the cooking process and dry the bread out. I think I might have been right because when I cut the loaf this morning, it was a little dryer than I prefer for banana bread. The muffins were pretty much just right. The office loves them.

Mizza Pizza

   Pizza dough is one thing I have never tried to make from scratch. There's a recipe in my book for "perfect pizza dough" so I decided to try it. I invited my parents over for homemade pizza and bought all the toppings possibly desirable. Peppers, onions, tomatoes, feta cheese, ricotta cheese, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, you name it. The night before our pizza party, I combined the ingredients for the pizza dough. The recipe said not to mix or knead it too much, as the gluten would react and make the dough the wrong consistancy. I mixed the flour, yeast, sugar and water with the lukewarm water just until the flour was moist. The recipe actually said, "the dough will look rough" and it did. I set the rough-looking dough in a small bowl with a few tbsp of oil in the bottom. It sat at room temperature for an hour and then slept in the fridge overnight. When I got home from work and took it out of the fridge, it looked exactly the same. It had not risen at all and looked very clumpy. I was bummed. I called mom and dad and asked them to pick up a package of dough from the Publix bakery on their way over.
  Before I cut my losses, I was curious to see what my dough would do if I kneaded it a little. So plucked it from the bowl and began to squish it in my hands. It was goeyer and more stretchy than I anticipated.....I wonder....hmmmm. I pulled out my baking stone and slapped the dough onto it. Stetching it into a quasi-circle, I covered the stone and pinched the edges to make a crust. It was coming along alright so I thought "what the heck" and prepared it to bake. My parents arrived with the store bought dough so I prepared their pizza with that incase mine bombed, they would still have something to eat. I put my dough in first for 5 minutes at 475 degrees. After is crisped for 5 minutes, I pulled it out to prepare the toppings. I baked both pizzas for 20 minutes at 425.
   Mine came out okay. The bottom stuck to the baking stone and was very crumbly, like the crust of 3-day-old bread. My parents' pizza came out perfect - golden brown and chewy crust. I believe my recipe would have worked out better if I had kneaded it just a bit more before resting it in the fridge. In addition, I should have preheated the baking stone in the oven to 475 and then put the dough onto the piping hot stone. It would have sealed it better and kept it from sticking to the stone. Next time.

The Bad With The Good

   I've been itching to make bread that incorporates fun ingredients like oats or seeds. I found a recipe for potato oatmeal bread and had to make it. It was a pretty quick recipe, in fact it could have been ready in a few hours but I like to make it fresh in the morning before work so I let it rise overnight instead of just one hour. A little extra rising never hurt anyone :) Flour, yeast, salt, dry milk, brown sugar, oats, butter and some warm water. Recipe called for 2 "mealy" potatoes. Not sure what kind those are, but I used 3 small red potatoes instead (peeled). Boil the potatoes and mash them up, add them to the mixture and knead for 5-10 minutes. Turn out on a floured surface and form a loaf. Coat a bowl with oil/butter and let the dough rest for an hour or more until doubled in size.
   Side bar: I had a lot of sourdough starter in my fridge that I've been feeding since day one of the bread project. I thought I would start making a few sourdough recipes - each recipe makes 3 loaves - and then send them home with friends and coworkers. So I took a cup of my starter and prepared one recipe of dough. Sourdough is the most fun to knead. It gets really stretchy. I oiled a glass bowl and let the sourdough rise overnight next to my potato oatmeal dough.
   This morning I woke up at 5:30 after only hitting the snooze button once. I was too excited to see what my dough had done! Much to my dismay, the sourdough had not risen and was hard as a rock. I could barely make a fingertip impression. (I probably didn't feed the starter as I should have and let it sit in the fridge for too many days at a time without any attention). It was like a dough football. Trash. The oatmeal bread, however, looked perfectly risen with air bubbles in it, nearly tripled in size. Very nice. Even if your dough is surprisingly huge after the rising process, kneading it again will always reduce the size quite a bit. I folded it a few times, just until it shrunk enough to fit in a loaf pan. I coated it with water as the recipe called for and sprinkled the oats on top. 30 minutes at 425 while I did my hair and makeup would be just enough time.

   The house filled with the aroma of bread - which it the best way to start your day in my opinion. I peeked in the oven window when the timer went off and it looked tall, golden and beautiful. I stuck a knife into the center. It seemed done to me so I pulled it out and set it on a wire rack to cool. By the time Ian and I were dressed and ready, the loaf had cooled enough to cut. Oh my word it was amazing. Slightly chewy but not undercooked. Ian was frantically looking for apple butter to slather all over his slice. We found a jar in the pantry that we "imported" from Alaska last summer. Yu-um.
   The only thing I'll do differently next time is coat the dough with egg instead of water so the oats stick better. By the time I got it out of the pan, in my carrier and to work, most of the oats had fallen off. This recipe was quick, easy and delicious. Fuss-proof other than the boiling and mashing of the potatoes. It will definately go on my "go to" list for good bread. Oatmeal bread also makes great sandwich bread.

Swirly Girl

   Today's flavor - cinnamon raisin swirl. This is one of the most delicious loaves so far. The starter quadroupled in size in the fridge over night. After kneading it down, I still had enough dough to make two loaves. I mixed in the raisins and butter and worked with the dough for about 10 minutes. At first the raisins were just falling out of the dough but the longer I kneaded it, they began to fold in. I split the dough in half and set one chunk aside. With a wooden rolling pin, I flattened the first chunk into a 7x15 strip about a 1/2 inch thick. On the side I sifted the cinnamon and brown sugar together. With a pastry brush I basted the strip with egg and sprinkled the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat. Rolling one end in lengthwise, I created a spiral roll, pinched the ends and tucked them. I did exactly the same with the second chunk and set the loaves side by side to rise over night.
   To my surprise, this morning the loaves had risen so much, the plastic bowl I covered them with overnight was no longer resting on the counter! They were huge! I actually had to transfer one loaf to another baking sheet and bake them seperately. As soon as I got to work, people stopped me in the hallway. "What is it today?" No sooner did I get the lid off and cool the loaves when a  line formed in my office. One by one they cut a slice and endulged. Eight woman hovering around my desk with a napkin in hand, eyes closed, mouths stuffed with cinnamon raisin swirly goodness. They began placing requests for next week's flavor. HUGE SUCCESS!

Bread Bomb

   In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I chose a recipe from an Irish pub cook book for Irish soda bread. It seemed simple enough - flour, salt, baking soda and buttermilk. No yeast though, so this is my first experiment with "leven bread". It doesn't really rise and you should not incorporate a lot of air into the dough during the kneading process. I mixed the ingredients together last night and let the dough sleep in the fridge. This morning I took it out and placed it on my pastry mat to knead it ever so slightly, as the recipe called for. It was kind of dry at first and very lumpy, but then the situation turned sticky. With doughy fingers I fumbled through the pantry for some flour to dust the mat.  The dough remained super sticky though. I formed two small loaves (I had made a double recipe of dough to ensure everyone at work had an opportunity to taste it) and placed them on a greased cookie sheet. I baked as directed for 25 minutes. To check if they were done, the book noted to "Knock on the loaf(ves). If they make a hallow sound, they are done." They did infact sound hollow so I moved them to a wire rack to cool and then to my baked goods container to tote them off to work.
   I sent out the routine e-mail letting the office folks know there was bread available. Note: I had not yet cut the first slice. Three girls from the DNA lab came down with paper leprechaun masks - very cute and festive - to endulge in the holiday bread. About 3 slices into it, we discovered it wasn't fully cooked. Actually it was really mushy in the middle. I took the loaves down to the break room, where there is an oven, and baked them an additional 20 minutes. I cut into a loaf again and it was still gooey. I baked them ANOTHER 20 minutes. At that point the crust was hard as a rock - too hard to cut - and the inside tasted like playdough. Ugh! I'm so bummed. For the first time, I am throwing my bread in the trash. ::sad face:: The only thing it would be good for at this point is digging out the center and making figurines, as children do with their food.

With A Twist

   I had a request in the office last week for cheesy bread. There's only a few things I love more than bread and one of them's cheese. So why not put them together? You can use all-purpose flour for basic cheese bread. Add yeast, water and honey for the starter. Although my starter didn't rise nearly as much as it usually does with bread flour. I'm not sure if that was it or my water was too warm for the yeast. Sometimes if it's too hot, it will kill the yeast and your dough won't rise, but that's usually only if it's boiling. So with my small lump of dough, I added cheddar cheese, dijon mustard, cayenne pepper and some more yeast and flour. I left it alone for about 4 hours, hoping it would double in size...but no such luck. I was really bummed out! I thought I had my first "ruined" recipe. I decided to make little twists with the dough since the loaf would look kind of pathetic that small. I grabbed at the dough, pinching off chunks the size of tennis balls. I rolled each one out long and thin, and then brought the ends together, twisting them into interesting bread sticks. The amount of dough made just enough for one cookie sheet of cheesy bread twists. I covered it with plastic wrap and let them rest over night. They did puff up a little, which made me happy. By morning some of the twists were even bumping up against each other. I seperated them just a bit and then popped them in at 350 for about 25 minutes.
   Anyone who has ever ordered a cheesy bagel twist at Dunkin Donuts would say my twists look very similar. They actually tasted similar too, although the cayenne pepper and dijon mustard gave it a tiny little kick that was a perfect variation. I loved them. I did get some feedback that they need to be eaten warm. Unless I can serve them right out of the oven, I'll have to reheat (10 seconds in the microwave seems to be perfect). Also, if baking for a crowd, I would double the recipe.

Make It A Double

   For this weekend's flavor, I decided on rye. My parents have been really supportive in my bread baking efforts and if I ever get a business off the ground, I know they will be my biggest fans, second only to my husband, Ian. So, I figured they should be receiving the benefits of my learning process by getting their very own loaf once in a while. Because you can always double the recipe (as long as you have space for all that dough), I made enough for 2 loaves. Beginning Saturday morning with the starter or "sponge", I mixed the bread and rye flours, yeast, honey, sugar and water. You can let the sponge sit for just an hour or two, or ferment in the fridge for several hours for a more flavorful taste. Obviously I chose the more tasty option and let it sit in the fridge while I went to Crystal River with my parents to visit my husband at his boat show.
   My mom and I spent the afternoon nurturing my dad's new notion to buy a boat. Airboat, flatts boat, pontoon....oh the options. I think he's leaning toward a pontoon because you can do so much with them - fishing, water sports, cruising, etc. I'm all for it. And if he buys it from Ian, all the better :) We ate lunch at Cracker's on the river and then took a stroll down by the boat dock to hypotheticaly see where dad could tie up a boat, if he had a boat, hypothetically of course. The weather was beautiful - a perfect day to be out and about.
   Back at the house, my sponge had grown to fill the mixing bowl to the rim. I stirred it down and added the dry flour mixture. When you allow this to ferment, the sponge will bubble through the flour. After a few hours, I started mixing it all together using my Kitchen Aid mixer and bread hook. However, it was a double recipe and the dough just got so big I had to take it out of the bowl and knead it by hand, which was kind of fun! The recipe called for the final rise to only be an hour or two. But, I didn't want to bake it until Monday morning so it would be hot and fresh for my coworkers. I let it rise overnight and when I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to prepare it for the oven, it had tripled in size and spilled over the sides of the bowl. Woopsies! Kneading it for about 5 minutes reduced it in size just enough to form 2 loaves that fit on my baking stone. I sprinkled cornmeal on the stone and placed it in the very hot, 450 degree oven. Again for really firm crust, I used icecubes in a pan below the baking stone to get the steam effect.
   I jumped in the shower and started getting ready for work while my tiny masterpieces baked. At 6:50 a.m. they were golden with perfection. I slipped one loaf into a plastic bag for an early morning delivery to my parents. I placed the other loaf in my baked goods carrier with a half stick of butter to cart off to the office. Both my parents and the folks at work were big fans of this loaf. I got e-mail responses like "DELICIOUS!" and even requests for cheese bread and corn muffins. I guess we are on the right track if I'm getting orders in already!

Not My Favorite

   For Valentine's Day, my husband spoiled me. We agreed to stay at home for the evening and make a really nice prime rib dinner together. But much to my surprise, he came home from work with gifts. Yes, plural. GIFTS. #1 - The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. I had seen it in Barnes and Nobles and fell in love with it. It has drawings and pictures, how-to guides, "for best results" tips and tricks. And the great thing about this book is it's for by hand bread makers and there's not a lot of bread machine recipes. I refuse to use a bread machine. The best part, my husband wrote this beautiful message in the cover about following my dreams and believing in me. I cried. #2 - A bread/pizza stone with wire handles for delicious authentic bread making. #3 - A wooden oven paddle for retrieving my breads from the oven without burning myself. He got me all the essentials to get started on my bread journey. So of course I put them to use right away.
   I thumbed through the Bread Bible sticking post-its on all the recipes that looked good. Before I knew it I had a post-it on every other page. So I think I'll just start at the beginning and bake my way through the whole thing! The first recipe I decided on was for potato bread. The starter required yeast, all-purpose flour, and water from boiling a potato. I got all that together and let it ferment. The recipe said to peel and mash the potato for the next step. But the potato was not soft enough to mash. I tried boiling it again and found myself a little frustrated when I saw a notation: You may substitute the mashed potato for 3/4 cup potato flour and 1 cup warm water. I had found potato flour at the Mother Earth whole food store last week so I said screw it and threw the potato away. The starter, or "sponge" as the book calls it, slept in the fridge overnight. The next afternoon I added the flour mixture, let my Kitchen Aid mixer do the kneading work for the required 10 minutes, plopped the dough in an oiled loaf pan and let it rise. I'm not sure why, but the recipe required I preheat the oven to 475 an HOUR before baking. That seems like a lot of wasted electricity, but I did it anyway since it was my first time using this recipe. It also said to place a baking sheet on the bottom of the oven during preheating and then toss a 1/2 cup of icecubes on it when I put the bread in. Well this made my pan shrivel and creak and it RUINED it! I was pissed. I guess the ice allows for a steaming process that makes the crust extra crispy, but I'm not happy about my pan. When the timer went off, I took is out of the oven and glazed it with butter. The crust was firm and crispy, the inside was perfectly fluffy and soft. Overall, the bread was good, but I'm not a fan of the recipe and preparation process. I'll have to play with it and come up with another solution for creating steam in the oven.