baking

Winter is Here

Posted on by Dan

I supposed there’s nothing more appropriate to have happen on the official first day of winter than to snow a good 8 inches. I keep telling myself that this will be the year that I embrace the snow, the cold, the runny nose and aching ears. It doesn’t do any good to hold a grudge against mother nature (which is what I have done in the past once I start to dwell on the amount of months remaining before habitable weather returns).

Snow

But, no grudges this year. I will happily shovel ourselves out of the drifts, merrily don my warm, woolen knits, inhale the crisp clean air and… do everything I can to stay inside and in close proximity to the oven!

Loaves of Bread

There’s nothing quite like the smell of baking bread when just beyond the wall the outside world is being blanketed by snow and brought to a stand-still in the sub zero temperatures. I have a feeling there will be a lot baking going on this season. But, the start of winter also means longer days of sunlight are just around the corner. In fact, even tomorrow will be slightly lighter. Now, that is good news.

Happy solstice!

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Carb Loading

Posted on by Dan

In an attempt to shoo away another round of cold weather and snow, or at least the frustration that it brings (Barb, after reading your comment, I feel your pain), I fired up the oven for an afternoon of baking. And an afternoon of baking it was.

Carbloading

I’m constantly modifying my bread recipe, and I feel like I’ve found a decent base from which to explore different adaptations.

Today, I started with:

  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 2+ Tablespoons of black strap molasses
  • 2 Teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 1/2 Teaspoon of ground up caraway seeds

Next, I mixed in the following ingredients with the liquid, and whisked/stirred until a consistency of yogurt:

  • 1/2 cup gluten flour
  • 1/2 cup rye flour
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/8 cup wheat germ

Then I added:

  • Approx. 3 cups white flour
  • 1/2 Teaspoon salt

The rest is pretty much standard bread-making instructions (knead for 10 minutes, let rise twice, proof before putting in oven that has been preheated to 400ºF, bake for 30-35 minutes or until done — I like to spray the oven with water a couple of times during the baking to give the crust a bit of a crunch).

That was the bread. As you can see, there were a few more things besides the bread. Jane Brody has a good zucchini bread recipe, and the peanut butter cookies, though not as good as Virginia’s grandmother’s recipe (are they ever?), have still been approved for household consumption.*

Carbloading

What can I say? I am a fan of wheat.

*And, as much as I’d like to dive into all this baked goodness, we’re actually going to be feeding a group of people.

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