Postal Grunt's blog

I don't get jealous of the usual list of suspects that crank out the "I gotta bake a loaf of that" breads. I get it that their skills weren't given to them and they had to put in their time at the work bench to learn the craft. They all probably baked a brick or two in their time before they got to where they're at these days. I've already baked a couple of bricks so I'm part way there. I keep winning ribbons at the Leavenworth County Fair where the Mennonite families are stiff competition so I know I'm improving.

Late last year, I posted about the availability of Green River Organic Whole Wheat flour at a KC, MO Costco. I thought organic, stoneground, and $8 for a 10 pound bag might be of interest to others who live in the KC area and have access to a Costco. PMcCool was the first to post that he had purchased a bag and enjoyed both working with the flour and consuming the results of his labors.

I wrapped up my classroom sessions for the Master Food Volunteer program this past week. It's been a rewarding experience and I'm looking  forward to participating in the demonstrations over the next 12 months. There will be a chance to teach some lessons in bread baking as long as I can develop a lesson plan that can be presented in an hour or so format that won't get deep in the weeds and lose the interest of the class.

Some of my classroom time for the Master Food Volunteer Program run by Kansas State Research Extension Service has been spent at the Olathe, KS campus of Kansas State University. It's a nice, modern building equipped with up to date classrooms, communications, conference rooms and a well equipped test kitchen that my class has been fortunate to use as a kind of playground for making jellies, baking pies, drying foods, and more.

Everyone who has grown up in an area where real snow storms are a common occurence and now lives in the KC area knows that many people here refuse to address the problems associated with snowfall. City budgets and snow removal staffing are commonly inadequate. People freak out, drive with uncommon foolhardiness, and create an economic bonanza for the auto body repair shops and tow truck companies. It didn't break my heart when I heard that classes were cancelled for today.

This was my third year to enter the county fair. I finally got somewhere with my baking. I'm not saying that I've got to where I want to be but I think I can at last say that I'm close to the end of the beginning. I haven't gotten that far with Photbucket this year.

We had a very successful first meet up of KC area members. The conversation was lively and the smiles were as plentiful as the fine breads that were brought in to sample and share. There wasn't a bad loaf in the bunch.

This is my first project from the many breads that I found interesting in Bernard Clayton Jr.'s book,  "Breads of France", first printed in 1978. I obtained the copy I'm reading through an inter library loan from McPherson, KS, which is deep in the heart of Kansas and wheat growing country. The book is a 1978 copy. Mr. Clayton's formulas are written down in volume measurement so I used a calclator, pad, and pen to scratch out my weight measurements. That's the penalty I pay for not having learned how to use a spread sheet.

Mrs PG and I visited my parents and other family this month. Some of the time was loosely connected to my baking activities and a pleasant part of the journey.

Lately, I've resumed my loosely disciplined approach to developing a formula for a pan wheat bread with around 33% whole wheat.  It bears some semblance to my psomi formula and may be similar to what I understand the English call a brown bread. I've used AP flour so the dough is just a little sticky and slack at the end of bulk fermentation.

In the first example, I used dry malt extract that I bought from a local homebrew shop.