Some pots are luckier than others
We were invited to some friends annual Boxing Day party. It's always fun. It's a pot luck with wonderful food. There is always live music. This year it was a Celtic string band. I get to visit with friends that, since I retired, I seem to see only once a year, at this party.
I was asked explicitly to bring bread. I brought a large loaf last year, and they never served it. Oh, well. This year, my wife made a delicious shrimp dip, and I baked SJSD demi-baguettes to slice for the dip. I also made a couple small miches using the original SFBI formula.
We put out the baguette slices and dip ourselves, but, as we left at the end of the party, I saw my miche sitting there, still in its bakery bag. As we were saying good night and thanking our hosts, both thanked me profusely for the bread.
I think I'm catching on.
I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season and Happy Baking!
David
Comments
...and no doubt good friends who very much appreciate you and your skills.
Happy Holidays, David!
Cathy
Looks great as always David.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you and your family.
Ian
Hey David. Beauty loaves as usual. You need to post more often! Always inspiring.
Boxer Day? or Boxing Day? I thought the US didn't really have a Boxing Day. Curious.
John
I have been baking but not much new and exciting of late.
Boxing Day is it? Oh, well. The US doesn't "have it," as you thought. Thanks for the correction. Reminds me. I've been meaning for some years to find out what BoxING Day is about.
David
Boxing Day is a goofy name for a day much similar to the US's Black Friday. Ours is on the 26th of Dec. Just as frustrating a day as your Black Friday. I most always stay indoors away from the crowds. An indoor party would be more like it!
John
Just saw your reply on my previous post today. I always feel odd calling it SJSD but I pay homage to it's "place of origin" aka la Maggiore. So my whole group of "tasters" have heard the name now. It's so versatile and tasty. And once you do it a few times it handles like you want all dough to handle (aka fun to shape). Your hosts got a taste of the SFBI Miche and through out a line hoping they might score another. That's a unique compliment to your craft.
Hope the holidays were well
Josh
I started baking bread right after I retired from the USPS in 2009. Soon after, I volunteered to bake bread for my wife's family gatherings in Omaha during the holidays. It has taken a while but this year, I brought a sourdough deli rye with caraway seeds and a pain au levain that matched the store bought yeast rolls in popularity. It's a slow process but I'm starting to win them over, one mouthful at a time.
beautiful breads as always, David! Boxing Day is an English thing! It was the day after Christmas when servants were given their "Christmas Box" by their employers, mainly a Victorian tradition. The box contains gifts and the servants got the day off. It was kept as a day off for all after Christmas and has remained a holiday since then.
I doubt they'd have received any breads, let alone as lovely as yours!
I'd camp outside your door and have you school me on your technique. Unfortunately the last time I checked, the Internet doesn't have doors, so I'll have to admire these from afar.
alan
and some SJSD baguettes ti go with it- maybe for New Years instead of panettone? It they aren't eating that fine bread I hope they are donating it to the food bank...... Just gorgeous baking all the way around. Well Done and
Happy New Years David.
@ Josh - The lack of knowledge or even awareness of the San Joaquin Valley by coastal Californians, as well as out of staters, is a source of consternation. Hence my geography lesson.
@ Kiseger - I looked up "Boxing Day" after John's correction of my terminology. We always gave our chauffeur, cooks, butler and both the upstairs and downstairs maids Christmas day off, so we never had the compensatory Boxing Day. ;-)
@ dbm - I sincerely doubt that miche will ever make it to a food bank.
David
My first comment here. Been lurking long enough to bake the Rustic loaf twice and David's iteration of Anis Bouabsa's baguette 3 x. Your bread pics always make my salivary glands wake up... lol. I have been pretty successful with the breads I've made and am wondering if it's worth doing your iteration of Peter Reinhart's Pain l'ancienne or just stick with the Bouabsa baguette. Seems like the experience here with the Gosselin baguette isn't as good as Bouabsa. Any thoughts. Will post this on a general thread also. And thanks for always sharing.
hester
Carissimo David,
il tuo pane è straordinario, se ti capitasse di passare dalla Toscana fammelo sapere che mi prenoto molto volentieri per un assaggio.
In cambio potrei prepararti qualche deliziosa ricetta della nostra tradizione gastronomica che con il tuo pane sarebbe eccezionale.
Un abbraccio a te ed alla tua famiglia ed i miei migliori auguri per un felice 2015, pieno di cose belle e di buon pane.
Anna
Grazie, Anna, per le tue gentile parole.
Mi piacerebbe cottura con te in Toscana. Forse un giorno che accadrà.
I migliori auguri per il nuovo anno!
Davide
Hi David, I've had this problem before too. It seems nobody wants to be the first to cut a loaf that resembles a work of art - particularly if it is in a shape they are not familiar with. When I take bread I make a point of cutting (or breaking it) and presenting it. That way, all you'll have left are crumbs....
David.
Next time, I'll try that.
David