February 22, 2010

To Knead or not to Knead

Lately I've been baking our bread.  I'm not really sure why I got on this kick.  Afterall, I'm not usually the one jumping up to go bake!  Anyway, I've been baking our bread since the beginning of the year and I'm getting better at it.  That whole yeast thing is kind of tricky, in my opinion.  It's so easy to kill it before it has a chance to do what it's supposed to.  So I've resorted to using a thermometer and getting the temperature of the water and milk to be in the acceptable range of 105-115F.  Can anyone tell me why the milk needs to be scalded then cooled?  Is it okay to simply warm it up to the appropriate temperature?

At any rate, each batch seems to be a bit easier and a bit better.  Here's my weekend effort ... before and after!


Mom sent me the Dilly Casserole Bread recipe -- now that brought back memories!  It's a bread recipe that you don't have to knead, which is nice when you want to make a specialty bread for a specific meal.

"Let them eat cake"?  No, I say "Let them eat bread"!

February 13, 2010

What season is it?

Ah ... February in Calgary ... one day winter, the next day spring. 

After a week of warm days, the great mounds of snow are finally melting a bit and there's lots of moisture in the air.  With all that moisture hanging around, mornings offer lots of eye-candy!  The frost on the trees and bushes is so beautiful.  It melts off over the course of the day, only to return the next morning. 


We'll be hovering around 0 C (32 F) for the next week -- below at night, above during the day -- so I can look forward to another week of frosty mornings.