Gruel. An ugly word, I think. But not today—for now I understand the role of gruel in making sweet things. Gruel was at the end of today’s Search for Sugarplums, which is the awesome title of an up and coming blog I recently tapped into. Sourdoughs Unite! Gruel is a bread habit from antiquity, the […]
A drizzly, grisly Sunday at the start of summer. Ran the Med-City Marathon Relay this morning and got soaked to the bone. Izzy and I have a mirroring thing going on, methinks. Feeling a little droopy and cheek saggy today. Ciabatta Adapted from The Village Baker Lievito natural sponge 1 cup warm water 1 scant […]
Happy Memorial Day Weekend! While the rest of America barbeques and jumps into the pool, I’ve got an amazing amount of hibernating with my computer to do. Thesis crunch time. Fortunately, I have the world’s best couch potato to keep me company. Right now, she is doing yoga to center herself. Though she really […]
I made a whole stack of bread the other day with my friend Abby in an attempt to stock up for the wild weekend of festivities, grad parties, block parties, and then last night’s Life of Pi movie party. I also wanted to repay the neighbors who 1) mow my lawn on the sly 2) […]
Sometime last night a flock of flamingos descended into our front yard. I heard they were in season, and I completely understand why they prefer our front yard to the rest of Rochester. It is the most tropical locale in town. First the Dr. Seuss trees and now this! HaHA! Spring has been good to […]
Tuesday was the panini hand, today are the panini fingers. You know, this bread is pretty tough and chewy. KP recommends that something should be wrapped up and baked into this bread to make it a little more exciting, like cheese or prosciutto and I agree. But they were certainly easier to fold than the […]
Have you ever wanted to make bread in the shape of human anatomy? The Italian panini, small rolls, and croissants seem to be the balloon animals of the bread world. Oh, you want a starfish bread? Panini. Round, braided, butterflied, curled knots—what can be made with pasta dura seems limitless. A quotation from The Village […]
Mama mia! Best woman in the world, that Andie Ellis. Thank you for never forcing me to eat foods I didn’t like when I was at your table. See, everything in its own time. Like a trip to Italy. Mom, make this bread, you’ll love it. Very similar to the focaccia bread of Genoa, except […]
Buon giorno! I am ecstatic to move south into Italy via The Village Baker, beginning with a salt-free Tuscan bread recipe. Pane Toscano is bread from a time when there was an oppressive tax on salt in Tuscany. The book also says that this bread was historically made from porridge, and their recipe intends to […]
This brioche, the last of my brioche series, is the bread of the famous phrase “Let them eat cake,” which most people attribute to Queen Marie-Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI, but may have been said by some other rich and out of touch French lady royalty: “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche.” Let them eat brioche! […]