You know you are totally hooked on Baking

when you finally found a Store that sells fresh Bakers Yeast and you feel like crying for joy.lol

I ordered a lot of cubes of fresh Yeast from that Store and it will arrive this Friday. yeahhhhhhhhh

Not only does it help me to follow a fantastic Authentic German * Mischbrot * recipe, but I can also make some Apple Pancakes like my Mum used to make.

I am in HEAVEN.

Stands up : I am Petra, 51 years old and a Baking addict . Sits down.

addict when you make your own fresh cake yeast:-) OOPPPSSS!!! that's sourdough - never mind!

Yes, and of course Sourdough Starter.

Some recipes though I love to do the way Mum did , it is almost like a hug from Mum:)

I am sure she is watching me from Heaven and thinks : What the heck .... lol

You know you're totally hooked on baking when you research crumb texture of crumb cakes for three months (involving baking many different versions and enlisting many different taste testers). You know you're totally hooked on baking when you bake when you're sad, or happy. You know you're totally hooked on baking when you wish your bed was in the kitchen. You know you're totally hooked on baking when you read your baking books over and over like novels. You know you're totally hooked on baking when you bake brownies for months, trying to identify the best brownie ever. Then just when you've found it, you find a better one. You know you're totally hooked on baking when you can't understand why anyone would use a bread machine when they could be kneading to Beethoven. The list goes on! Happy baking!

And you are totally hooked on baking you are in the Cinema and think of nothing else but get the leaven started so that you can bake early in the Morning.

You are totally hooked on baking when you rather feed your Sourdough Starter before you feed the family.

You are totally hooked on baking when you get up in the middle of the Night to make sure your Kitchen is warm enough for your Starter.

You are totally hooked on baking when you get so exited when it is time to cut into the bread to reveal the crumb.

You are totally hooked on baking when your husband is scared because HE sliced the fresh bread first. ha

I can definitely identify! It's nice to know there are other baking freaks like me (and I mean that in the best possible way).

It really is good to know there are others out there like us. pheww

You know when you're totally hooked on baking when:

You are far too excited when citrus season comes around, mainly for the zest
You get gitty when you see a new brand of flour at the store that you don't recognize
You get far too excited when you see a new type of odd/exotic baking ingrediant at the store, plotting what you can do with it.
You dream of trips to local (or not local) flour mills to pick up new 50# bags of flour
You realize that you need a second dedicated shelf in your pantry for flours/grains/seeds
You get to bed far too late on a work night because "it's just not done rising yet!"
Every new season you have to hold yourself back from sewing wheat/rye seed in the empty lot next door
There are scraps of paper all around your house containing different bread formulas to try out or refine
You salavate over that new bread book that has appeared in the local book store, the one that teases your eye and tugs at your wallet every time you walk by.

or maybe that's just me :P

You are totally hooked on baking when:

You talk to your starter and tell him what a good boy he is.

You name your Starter and get anoyed when others forget his Name: Mine are Wheeto and Ryan. ha

You get all stressed out when you forgot how many strech & folds you made.

Your suddenly become an obsession with Jars though your Starter can only live in one.

You rather have that Danish Dough Wisk than new shoes.

You know you're totally hooked on baking when you downsize from a 4/2 house to a 2/2 condo that's just been redone in the exact way you would have done it yourself, so the first thing you do is hire the same cabinet company to install a baking center on the one empty wall of the kitchen, TAILORED TO YOUR OWN SPECIFICATIONS, that matches the granite and cabinetry exactly, and you love it so much you could sleep on the counter. This just happened to me within the past year.

You know you are totally hooked on baking when the first thing you do when you visit your family in Germany WITH a loaf of Sourdough bread in your suitcase and ask them which crumb they prefer, yours or that from the Bakery and you tell them you will teach them how to grow a starter and bake them a bread the same Night you arrived.

What else would you do?

And than you get in a Mood because THEY rather sit and drink Wine. pfffft

It's their loss!

I like drinking wine while I bake. These activities don't need to be mutually exclusive.

and lots of it, is way better for baking bread than wine in my book, but I'm a Southern Bot with relatives who have done time in prison, some several times, for making white bourbon- it's like white vs dark bread :-)

Sounds like it's all in the same spirit of the thing, so to speak. Cheers!

I am more a cold beer or Glass of Red Girl

Yes, that is true BUT they did not want me to bake. lol

I agree.

You know that you are hook when you have to be away out of the country for 5 weeks and the only thing you are worried about is your "baby -sourdough" in the refrigerator and not your husband, your kid nor your grand kid!

Thaichef.

I think in Sweden or Daenmark they have * Sourdough Hotels * in which you can bring your Starter and they feed it for you the way you tell them to.

Like a Kennel for Sourdough. :)

What a great idea!

I would certainly bring mine to a Sourdough Hotel.

But it is easy to dry Sourdough and then freeze it, just in case.

it will be good forever.

My name is Windi, and I'm a baking addict...

--I can't imagine life without a Danish dough whisk

--I get excited at the thought of finding 25 lbs of Atta flour, and organic spelt on clearance at the supermarket

--I go directly to the baking section of the bookstore, the library, any used book sale...and then I read baking books before bed, at lunch break, while waiting for appointments, as a passenger in the car, etc...

--I think a loaf of bread or a selection of biscotti make the ideal gift for every occasion; who ever takes a bottle of wine to a party anymore? (BTW, I'm sipping some Zinfandel as I'm typing, but I try not to shape and proof under the influence)

--my weekend plans center around when I should feed my starter, knead, time the retard, and bake; everything else has to just work around the dough's schedule

--I announce that the first slice from a loaf is "The Baker's Reward," and woe to he who tries to take it from me

--I'm on a quest to find the perfect butter keeper

--I seek to indoctrinate others to the wonders of homemade bread, and I'm horrified when someone throws good bread away (croutons! bread crumbs! fattoush!)

I could go on....

I was jumping up and down for joy when my Danish Dough Whisk arrived!

I am still sooooo happy about my fresh bakers yeast that arrived yesterday.

I am so delighted to found the perfect Bread Flour, even though the husband has to drive 30 minutes to get it. hehe

I love finding new Bread Recipes and want to try them asap, even at 2am in the Morning.

I never baked under the Influence * that is a lie, made a very odd looking loaf once after 4 Glasses of Red Wine *

My Weekends fill the house with the smell of fresh bread, cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls....

He/she who DARED to cut in to a new loaf will suffer greatly because it is I who NEEDS to make the first cut and look at the crumb.

People who NEVER baked a bread do not know what they are missing.

I think my hubby NEEDS to stop my credit card or I buy more and more to feed my bread baking addiction. OOOOPS

I though posting pictures of my breads on facebook was a sign of depravity. Apparently not.

You should be living in Israel, every supermarket sells fresh yeast.