Patience

Mine is being tested. By a container of flour and water that isn't cooperating.

About two weeks ago, I finally started my sourdough starter. I need one for the BBA Challenge. There is an entire section of the book devoted to sourdough recipes and it's quickly approaching. I've been dreading this whole section and process from the very beginning for a couple of reasons, the first being that I don't particularly care for sourdough bread. Go ahead. Mock me. Jeer at me for calling myself a bread baker and not liking sourdough. I can take it. So having to mess with a starter is like rubbing salt in a wound and probably why I'm even more grumpy about the fact that it doesn't seem to be working quite right.

There are plenty of tutorials on "how to start your starter" and I followed a really good one from Paul at Yumarama. He went into great detail, with step by step, day by day instructions for the first week of getting a starter started. And it seemed to be going swimmingly. But for the last 4 or so days, my starter has been seriously trying my patience and adding to the resentment I'm harboring about "having" to make sourdough bread.

"But making a starter is so easy!" You know what's easy? Taking a teaspoon or so of the SAF instant yeast out of the container in my fridge and mixing it with the rest of my bread ingredients, that's what. BAM. Done. No futzing around with building up a starter, feeding it the right amounts so you have enough for the recipe and enough left over. No schedules, no wondering if it's going to work. That dry, granulated yeast hasn't let me down yet, by golly. Its needs are simple and it makes no demands of me. We're pals. But that container on my counter? Traditionally, people name their starters and after the last few days, I've settled on mine. I've decided to call it "Tim". Why? Well, my boss's name is Tim and like my boss, my starter is a pain in my ass.*

I know, I'm such a whiner. I totally own up to that. I'm practically stomping around with my bottom lip sticking out, saying, "Buhhuhuht I don't WANNA start a starter." *foot stomp*

This is why I don't have kids. I'm petulant enough—I don't need the competition. And let me tell, you the patience thing? Yeah, I'm not good at that, either. So I'm TRYING to get past the annoying toddler stage of this whole thing, both my attitude and the infancy of the starter itself, and just look at it for what it is: a learning experience.

So I guess I'll put on my big girl pants *sigh* and muster the patience to get my starter through its growing pains — or NOT growing pains, as is the case right now. And if someone wants to fill me in on why my starter reeks of a chemical, nail polish remover kind of smell, I'm all ears. I've Googled the bejeezus out of it and it seems like it's a feeding issue, but I've been feeding the damn thing twice a day.

Wish me luck—and lots of patience!


*Don't worry, my boss would laugh if I told him. He's got a sense of humor and gives as good as he gets.

BBA Challenge Bread #22—Pain de Campagne

I'm almost caught up with my BBA baking; now I'm working on catching up with documenting my efforts. Here's bread #22, Pain de Campagne, which I made 4 weeks ago. It'll be interesting to see how much I can remember. Let's find out...

I'm baking my way through Peter Reinhart's award winning book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice, along with 200+ other amateur bakers. Want to join in the madness, or just learn more about this semi-crazy undertaking? Check out the following links:

• Pinch My Salt BBA Challenge page—master resource for the challenge
• Buy the Book Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart
• List of Breads See what's coming up.
• Blogroll See who's baking. Great list of some amazing foodie (and not-necessarily-foodie) blogs.
• Flickr Group Photos, photos and more photos!
• Facebook
• Twitter Search for #BBA to find challenge tweets. Unfortunately, this hashtag has been usurped by a number of different groups, so you'll have to sift through Big Brother Africa posts as well as various other, random groups. If the tweets are all in German, that's a different BBA group. Just so you know.

According to Mr. Reinhart, Pain de Campagne "is the perfect dough for creative shaping." That sounded promising to me. I do like to get creative with bread dough. I decided to try the epi for part of the dough because it's such a distinct and lovely shape, but debated about what to do with the rest.





I split the dough roughly in half, shaped one half into a baguette - badly - and set it aside to proof. The signature shape is created after the dough has proofed and is ready to bake. It was during the shaping of this first hunk of dough that I thought it might be a bit slack. From what I remembered seeing of other baker's breads, mine seemed too wet. It was too late to do anything about it but soldier on.

For the second half of dough, I decided to go seasonal and make pumpkins. I kind of meant to make them small and roll-like, but they were on the big side. They worked great for dinner, though. Just about the right amount for Dwight and myself.




Back to the epi. It's snipping time!


The dough proofed nicely but spread out a bit more than I would have liked. I think the slackness of the dough and my poor baguette shaping skills are to blame. If I'd gotten good surface tension on the dough, it would have proofed UP more, not mainly OUT. Once I got the hang of it, the snipping part was a lot of fun





To the oven!

As with the other rustic breads, Pain de Campagne uses the "hearth baking" method which should produce a nice, browned crust. I was disappoined with the pale color of mine. I would have left them in a bit longer, but the bottoms were starting to burn.





So, what did I think of this one? It was good, but not great. I was disappointed with the look of it for one. I was hoping for a nice, deep color like I had with the Pain a l'Ancienne. Although I need to work on it, I much preferred the Pain a l'Ancienne and will make that again. This one, though. Probably not. It wasn't a standout and there are many others that have been.


Check out these other BBA bakers for superior results:
Daniel at Ährelich Gesagt
Mags at The Other Side of 50
Paul at Yumarama
Cindy at Salt and Serenity

Wordless Wednesday - Transformation

The Down Side of Fall

You know why they call autumn "fall"? Because of this:


The leaves fall. And this year, they all decided to fall at once. One day, the trees were full of brightly colored leaves. The next—bare, or nearly so. Not only does that make the landscape instantly bleak and barren, it also means we have a lot a work to do.

Dwight did the front yard yesterday, and the two of us worked on the back yard today.




After I repeatedly took his picture, Dwight said it was my turn, and he had a request. He wanted me to pose like Edgar in Men in Black. You know the picture Will Smith picks up from the table at Edgar's house? The one of Edgar posed in hunting clothes with a gun on his hip? Yeah, that's the one. So I struck a pose:


I think I did a pretty good job. Although, for authenticity's sake, I probably should have removed the ear buds.

We piled it up to burn, but the leaves were so wet, we mostly produced smoke.


It did create some cool effects with the sun streaming through it.


We made good progress, leaving just a few piles to dump tomorrow. We decided to ditch the attempt at burning and pile them up in the wooded area behind the yard.


Now about this lamp post:

We call it our "Narnia light," a tribute to the C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. It's there for security reasons, though. I prefer the literary reason; it's a lot more fun!

Plate Swap and Peanut Butter Cookies

It started back in August on Twitter. Chery Tan (@cheryltan88) of A Tiger in the Kitchen, tossed an idea out to the twitterverse.

"Any food bloggers interested in drawing names and trading plates?"

Well, those weren't her exact words, but that was the gist of it. I love dishes of all kinds—old, new, bowls, plates, glasses, tea cups—you name it. It's part of the reason I love blogging about food. I get to use the various dishes I've picked up here and there, many at antique shops, some as gifts, all lovely in their own way.

So I jumped all over this idea, and sent Cheryl a direct message on the spot."I love this idea. I'm not "strictly" a food blogger, but if that's not a problem, I would love to participate." And I was in!

Cheryl gathered everyone's info, passed out names, and #plateswap was ON. Jeff Shively (@jeff_shively) and I had each other's names. Jeff, a fellow Hoosier, has a terrific and deliciously hilarious food blog over at Culinary Disasters. Don't let the name fool you—there's nary a disaster in site, just great food, beautiful photos and a healthy dose of humor.

Edit: Apparently, someone else sent me this plate, not Jeff. Duhn duhn duhn... Who could it be?? When I find out, I'll let you know!

Jeff A mystery #plateswap participant sent me this beautiful plate.


Not only is it green—my favorite color—it's also from Anthropologie, one of my favorite, drool-inducing shops. I've often said I could live in one of their stores. Sigh.

Thanks again, Jeff  Mystery Plate Giver!

 A great big "Thank You" to Cheryl for her coordination efforts and fun idea! Everyone, do yourself a favor and go to Cheryl's blog A Tiger In The Kitchen. Cheryl is a hellova journalist and her style and charm carry over into her food blog. Reviews, recipes and lots of gorgeous photography abound. Check it out!



Now. About those scrumptious cookies ON the plate...


These were actually made by Dwight, so I can't take any credit for them, but they were so photogenic, I just had to use them to showcase the plate. These cookies are phenomenal. I would say that the title is not an exaggeration. So how about the recipe, eh?




Dwight found this on RecipeZaar courtesy of momofallboys:

The Last Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe You'll Ever Try

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups creamy or crunchy peanut butter, your choice (Dwight used crunchy)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
3 3/4 cups flour
12 ounces peanut butter chips (Dwight left these out)
1 cup nuts (optional-Dwight didn't add any)

Directions
Cream peanut butter and margarine, add sugars and mix well.
Add eggs and mix until creamy.
Add remaining ingredients.
Chill for one hour—or just chill between batches.
Drop by teaspoonful onto cookie sheets—do not flatten.
Bake at 325°F for 15 minutes.

Cool on cookie sheets for about 5 minutes then transfer to cooling racks or newspaper (to soak up some grease). Store in airtight containers or zip top bags.

NOTES:  Dwight TRIPLED this recipe and it worked out just fine.  Yeah, we had a LOT of cookies. He also used my largest Pampered Chef scoop, not a teaspoon. A teaspoon sized cookie is a sick joke. I'm just sayin'.

Quick Tip — The Versatile Band-Aid

I think we've all had our own "MacGyver" moments. You've got a problem and all you have to work with is a paper clip, a rubber band and piece of discarded gum you found wadded up in a wrapper on your car floor.

Or maybe that's just me.

ANYway. I've become rather proficient at turning the ubiquitous adhesive bandage—A.K.A. the Band-Aid—into a multi-functional powerhouse. I got in the habit of keeping band-aids with me because certain shoes would slip and slide off my heels, giving me at best, a blister and at worst, a bloody mess. Charming. Aside from first aid uses, though, I also carry them for other purposes.


Here's a run down of some of the uses I've found for these handy, portable miracle workers.

I have a pair of jeans that have a tag in the back that drives me nuts. If I don't have a shirt tucked in, the tag is scratchy and irritating. (It's not the kind of tag I can remove.) So I cover it with a band-aid—literally apply the band-aid to the jeans, not to me. That way when the jeans move, the solution moves with it.

Same principle goes for shirts I've had with an irritating seam. Sometimes I'll attach the band-aid directly to the shirt. OR I'll just stick it to my skin at the site.

This is especially helpful with bras. I've had some where one edge, usually at the wire, will irritate my skin. Easy solution—apply a band-aid to that spot on my skin. Or if the strap is a problem, either at a seam or the if slider is scratchy, just wrap a band-aid around the irritating section of strap and problem is solved.

I've even used a band-aid to fix a hem on my pants. Worked like a charm.

What about you? What kinds of MacGyver tricks do you have, either with band-aids or some other object? Share your tips in the comments!

BBA Challenge Week 21—Pain á l'Ancienne

Although I'm sure I'm butchering the pronunciation of this bread when reading it to myself, I'm also sure that it's utterly delicious and surprisingly simple. Welcome to bread #21, Pain á l'Ancienne, a superb, French (duh) bread that seeks to draw as much flavor from the flour as possible.

I took a surprising number of pictures of this bread making process, so be prepared. Gird your bandwidth loins—it's going to be a long and photo-filled post!

I'm baking my way through Peter Reinhart's award winning book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice, along with 200+ other amateur bakers. Want to join in the madness, or just learn more about this semi-crazy undertaking? Check out the following links:

• Pinch My Salt BBA Challenge page—master resource for the challenge
• Buy the Book Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart
• List of Breads See what's coming up.
• Blogroll See who's baking. Great list of some amazing foodie (and not-necessarily-foodie) blogs.
• Flickr Group Photos, photos and more photos!
• Facebook
• Twitter Search for #BBA to find challenge tweets. Unfortunately, this hashtag has been usurped by a number of different groups, so you'll have to sift through Big Brother Africa posts as well as various other, random groups. If the tweets are all in German, that's a different BBA group. Just so you know.

This bread starts as many lean breads do, with bread flour, yeast, salt and water, although the water is ice cold as opposed to the usual room temperature or slightly warm. The idea is to slow down the fermentation as much as possible, which is also why the dough is immediately placed in the refrigerator after kneading in the mixer. No sitting on the counter until doubled, just mix and pop in the fridge until tomorrow. Easy peasy.

Day 2 is a bit more involved, but not difficult. First thing you must do is prepare the work area, covering the surface with plenty of flour and have a scraper and water handy for getting the dough out of the bowl and for spliting. 

The dough literally pours out of the bowl, hence the need for plenty of flour.

First, you must coat the dough with yet more flour so that you can gently shape it to roughly 8" x 6". Then you divide it into two width-wise. I goofed and divided it length-wise. Oops. It seems I have to have at least one "oops" in each bread making session. Fortunately, this one was minimal!

A quick note about the photos: I have the timer function set, so I hit the shutter and go about my work while the camera counts to five then fires. Because the light is rather weak and I have the aperture fairly closed, the exposure is relatively long—long enough so that my hands are blurred. I really don't move Superman-fast, as it might appear in the photos!

I decided to use half the dough for baguettes and half for focaccia. The baguettes were quick and easy. Let's see:

First I prepared the pizza peel with corn meal. I would use this to transfer the baguettes to the preheated stone.

Next, I split half the dough into thirds.

Here's where I realized my mistake. The dough pieces were already long and stretched very easily. They quickly became too long for the peel and baking stone. I had to double back the dough onto itself as you would ciabatta.

I had the oven setup for "hearth baking" which means cranking the temp to 500°F and having a steam pan at the ready. Aside from setting off the smoke alarm, the baking went perfectly and the baguettes came out beautifully. I was very pleased with the color. And they smelled fantastic.

Once the cooled a bit, I sliced into them to check the crumb. Success!

From this photo, you also get an idea of the size of the baguettes. They're rather small. But the size certainly did not affect the taste. These were so good. They were crusty and chewy and had an almost buttery flavor. There was just the right amount of saltiness to them as well, which helped bring out the other flavors. Dwight and I really enjoyed them. Naturally, they are best the same day, but do well reheated in the oven (or toaster oven) wrapped in foil.

Now about that other half of the dough. As I mentioned, I'd decided to make focaccia and took my inspiration from fellow BBA baker, Heather of BodaciousGirl. Heather posted a photo on Twitter and I knew that I had to follow her lead—Apple Cinnamon Focaccia. Well, I added walnuts, so mine was Apple Walnut and Cinnamon Focaccia. Let's check it out, shall we:

I took the other half of the dough and placed it in an oiled pan, spreading it out a bit, then covering it for an hour or two to rise.

First, I had to prep all of the ingredients, starting with the apple.

Although it looks like I was about ready to cut off my thumb, I did move it in time, and am happily still attached to all of my digits.

Next is the sugar mixture. I used dark brown sugar to start.

I also added a bit of white sugar, along with a healthy scoop of Penzey's Baking Spice.

Next I chopped a handful of walnuts. Now on to assembly. I should have started with the nuts, but live and learn:

Ready to bake.

The next time I make this, I'll be sure to add some oil or butter—or both—to the top before baking. Even so, it was delicious, especially 20 minutes out of the oven. A great way to enjoy great bread and fall flavors all together.

Did you survive the post? I told you it would be long. But it was worth it, right? I certainly enjoyed this bread and documenting the process. If you're interested in making a great, rustic bread, I highly recommend this recipe. It's most certainly a keeper!

Why not check out some of the other BBA baker's delicious posts:

Two Skinny Jenkins

The Other Side of 50

Susie's Home and Hobbies — Pizza!

Round the Table