Bread and Movies
La Cyn and I saw "Coraline" last night. Awesome movie! Made all the more fun by the two totally charming kids that adopted us when we came in. Rushauna (10) and her little brother Christopher (6) were sitting with their parents when we arrived, and quickly came down to our seats to pepper us with questions. Then Rushauna asked her mom if she could sit with us, and which Christopher quickly copied. Christopher was all jacked up on sugar, I was certain poor cynstress would have no peace whatsoever during the film. Surprisingly, he was completely quiet once the movie started, his sister, sitting next to me (hey, she's 10, she's at that age where she's imprinting on any grown up woman she sees) quietly asked a question or two but for the most part was also rapt to the screen.
I told her that when she's a grown up, she can eat ice cream for dinner and read at the table, because I totally do. She thought that was the coolest thing she'd ever heard.
I baked the beer bread this morning, it's good with a breadstick like crust, but I had anticipated something a bit more robust. Guess I'll have to try to bake with a darker beer or a local brew.
I made my own baker's lame yesterday, as suggested by Brother Reinhart in both Crust & Crumb and The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Instead of buying a lame which will quickly dull and cannot have its blade replaced, I grabbed a handful of wooden coffee stirrers from Cafe Descartes, and then attached a double-bladed razor on the end of it. Comme ça:
No more dragging a knife, no matter how sharp, across the top of a loaf and hurting my volume! That's the beer bread and the heels of the French bread in the background.
I wish I'd done a search on scoring loaves before I set my bread in the oven this morning, as I know I've been doing it wrong. I found a very very good one though.
While I was noodling around with the googles, I also found these French guys who work in a bakery in London. They've done a whole series of short videos on various stages of bread making. I think this one is my current favorite, Slow Motion Shaping:
But Vincent, Scoring Loaves and tossing 'em in the oven is also awesome:
This weekend, I can't decide if we should launch into Vienna loaf or rye... maybe I'll just make the barm for the rye and see what happens.
I told her that when she's a grown up, she can eat ice cream for dinner and read at the table, because I totally do. She thought that was the coolest thing she'd ever heard.
I baked the beer bread this morning, it's good with a breadstick like crust, but I had anticipated something a bit more robust. Guess I'll have to try to bake with a darker beer or a local brew.
I made my own baker's lame yesterday, as suggested by Brother Reinhart in both Crust & Crumb and The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Instead of buying a lame which will quickly dull and cannot have its blade replaced, I grabbed a handful of wooden coffee stirrers from Cafe Descartes, and then attached a double-bladed razor on the end of it. Comme ça:
No more dragging a knife, no matter how sharp, across the top of a loaf and hurting my volume! That's the beer bread and the heels of the French bread in the background.
I wish I'd done a search on scoring loaves before I set my bread in the oven this morning, as I know I've been doing it wrong. I found a very very good one though.
While I was noodling around with the googles, I also found these French guys who work in a bakery in London. They've done a whole series of short videos on various stages of bread making. I think this one is my current favorite, Slow Motion Shaping:
Click to viewBut Vincent, Scoring Loaves and tossing 'em in the oven is also awesome:
This weekend, I can't decide if we should launch into Vienna loaf or rye... maybe I'll just make the barm for the rye and see what happens.