Blog posts

Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

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Going through my bread book library last night and discovered that I had two Laurel's Kitchen books.  If anyone out there needs one,  you can have one of mine for the cost of shipping...no charge for the book.  Seem's like someone was looking for a copy awhile back. If you are interested,  you can email me at

wforge@bellsouth.net.

 Think the cost of shipping would be around 4 bucks.

Wayne

Silpat and chocolate chips

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One of the grocery stores here in southern mexico has just brought in REAL hershey's chips in milk and semi sweet.

I thought this was an excellent time to try the Silpat (tm) cookie sheet liners I received from my sister for christmas. I had heard of Martha Stewart endorsing them along with several others,

My oven here is gas and very unstable when it comings to holding a temperature without fluctuating. The end result in cookies always seemed to be a slightly to moderately scorched bottom.

Baking on the road, part III

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This was the best I could come up with: sourdough pan loaf A loaf of sourdough sandwich bread, slightly gummy and poorly shaped but edible. I am humbled. Baking on foreign soil is very difficult. Back to my home kitchen this weekend.

Baking on the road, part II

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Hmmm... yes, well... baking on the road seemed like a good idea. My starter made it fine, but I guess I didn't really think about how many little things I take for granted in my home kitchen. Yes, I knew I was going to be without a baking stone or my lame, but those were the least of my problems. Not being able to find a warm enough spot in the house for the loaves to rise enough set me back a bit.

This week's baking: Pane Siciliano and 30% whole wheat Leonard Boule

This weekend I made the Thom Leonard boule again (actually 2 smaller boules), but this time made a darker loaf where 30% of the total flour was whole wheat and a little rye. I imagine this combo of flour is more in line with what a Poilane loaf is like. My husband called me from Paris the other day to report on the Poilane loaf he tasted while there, saying it was not really a dark whole wheat bread, rather the crumb was a medium to light color, with even, small to medium holes, not huge holes.

Baking on the road

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We're housesitting for my parents up on Puget Sound for the next few days. Before leaving, I fed the pets, watered the plants, and, of course, fed the starter. While doing so it dawned on me that I could take a pinch along and try baking something up here; homemade sourdough would go great with the fresh seafood (like the clams we picked up on the way up). I figure if the pioneers could keep a starter culture alive for weeks on a wagon train, I could keep one alive for four hours on the interstate, eh? It'll be interesting to bake in another kitchen.

Cracked Wheat Loaf

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Yesterday I made Rose Beranbaum's Cracked Wheat Bread, everything went well until I slashed the risen loaf, which promptly subsided to half the size. I baked it and now I have another paving brick. What can I do to prevent this happening again.