trailrunner's blog

When nothing seems to be rational in my life and I have lost all of my center I can always turn to baking...and so it has been for 37 years or so. I made my first Challah in 1976 or so...here it is again...almost every week since then. I had some extra "discard" starter and bananas and applesauce that I made last summer and lo and behold it becomes bread and muffins. My freezer is full and for a little while the demons are held back.

This is winging its way to NYC for my best friend to use at her celebration Friday evening. I have been making Challah for well over 35 years now but only learned how to do this braid last year. Thanks to TFL for that info . Hope you enjoy and have a blessed holiday.

I haven't posted in ages . Been baking but no time these days to get on the computer. I had to post this though. I used Lildice's Ciabatta crust recipe from the pizza forum...she posted it in 2007. All I can say is...a picture is worth a 1000 words. Her inst. are perfect and this is the best pizza I have ever eaten, let alone made. I will never use another crust.

I had an abundance of discard yesterday so got creative and made some delicious treats. My discard is made up of "alto" and "sax" a white and a rye wild yeast starter. I add to it on a weekly basis. I regularly make the banana nut bread that I have posted before. I wanted to try a bread solely made from the discard. I used the 1-2-3 formula and 2% salt also added 2 scant tsp inst. yeast for good measure. The final dough was 500g starter discard- 1000g tap water-1500g GM bread flour- 30g Kosher salt. I dissolved the starter in the water and added the inst yeast.

I haven't been taking pics lately but have been baking as usual. Wanted to thank David and also document how wonderful this formula is. I have a starter , thanks to Gaarp, that doubles in one hour. I take it out of the fridge 1x a week and feed it q 12h for a total of 2 times and it is fantastic. I also have a rye starter and a bowl of "discard". The San Joaquin is great. Here are pics. Perfect sour for us as we are not wild about lots of sour. I have found that my starter is very happy in the fridge. At least it works for me.

xaipete made me do it. The crust was OK., "nothing extry" as we say in Alabama.  It was a wild yeast dough that had been in the freezer for a couple months. It was very nice to work with but didn't rise too much . It did get nice and chewy and since I baked in a 550 oven with a really preheated stone the bottom was nicely browned in places. The topping was what made it so perfect. My sister in law brought me olive salad from NOLA. It is the best and since that was my home long ago I miss it and was so glad to get the gift.

I have had this recipe for granola since the 80's. My Mom found it in the Orlando Sentinel. It is the best I have ever tasted. Here is the pic and the recipe.

12c rolled oates

 2 c sunflower seeds

2 c ribbon coconut

 2 c chopped nuts - I use almonds and/or pecans

2 c sesame seeds

I have liked the Blog entries so much that I decided to try it myself. I made the Ciabatta from Jason's formula posted here on TFL. I followed the semolina formula. It turned out wonderfully. I have never made Ciabatta before so I am really pleased. It sure is light and disappears with great ease.