I've been gone from the bread blog for a while, but now's the moment to return to bread baking. Starting up a new consulting practice has been a little consuming, but I think I've got it under control. Now I go to visit my Dad on Mondays, and work from home when I need to otherwise. This would seem to point towards Sunday bread baking.
So tomorrow's going to be the moment in which I attempt to make good on the mission of Towards Pumpernickel and deliver a loaf of black bread to my Dad. And it's the beginning of new efforts towards integrating bread baking into a life routine. I was away from bread baking long enough that I needed to buy some commercial bread and it just seemed wrong.
Today I'm going to make the bread start to finish. Ideally I'd like to try baking the shaped loaf on Monday morning before I go. But I don't think I'll start there. I want to know I'll have a loaf to take with me. Now entering, Towards Pumpernickel stage 3.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Validation
Yup, my take on the 3rd try has been validated.
From Davina... "The breat is AMAZING--just perfect! Yay! "
See, I didn't even fix the typo. :)
Going to see Dad on Monday. I will definitely make the bread on Sunday night. True test!
From Davina... "The breat is AMAZING--just perfect! Yay! "
See, I didn't even fix the typo. :)
Going to see Dad on Monday. I will definitely make the bread on Sunday night. True test!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Third Time's a Charm!
Russian black bread #3 is now in the record books. Received (by me) with much fanfare. Old adage "third time's a charm" is now confirmed. (or "third time lucky" for you Brits)
Made the recipe using All Bran cereal instead of straight wheat bran. Perfect middle ground between the prior two recipes. Finally got the right texture. And no extra bran in the teeth afterwards! I thought maybe the sugar in the cereal would make the bread sweet. Not at all. It just perfectly rounded out the flavor. I don't personally think of russian black bread as a favorite, but I really like this. Have we arrived "At Pumpernickel"? Hmmm....
The bread fairy has done her work. We'll have to see if Davina agrees.
Made the recipe using All Bran cereal instead of straight wheat bran. Perfect middle ground between the prior two recipes. Finally got the right texture. And no extra bran in the teeth afterwards! I thought maybe the sugar in the cereal would make the bread sweet. Not at all. It just perfectly rounded out the flavor. I don't personally think of russian black bread as a favorite, but I really like this. Have we arrived "At Pumpernickel"? Hmmm....
The bread fairy has done her work. We'll have to see if Davina agrees.
Bread Fairy
On Saturday night I had a great girls night out. We went to The Capital Grille and I got all excited when the bread basket came and there was a raisin pumpernickel prominently displayed. I had to try it immediately, and I have to say it's not half bad with a stoli doli. :)
That led to a conversation about this bread project with my two friends; one who has been actively involved (Davina) and the other who knew nothing about it (Sue). Very ironic that it worked out that way since Davina is the one usually on some lo carb thing avoiding bread, and Sue is an unabashed bread lover, maybe even her favorite food. So I took it as genuine interest when she started asking questions about the ins and outs of the project. Not that I was going to be shy in talking about it; i've written 27 posts so far even though I think the number of both readers and comments is probably under 10. It seems I'm ok with just waxing on and on about this.
Really my Dad was pretty uninterested when I tried to talk to him about it. He did show some more interest when I actually arrived with bread. But to be fair I had him admitted to the hospital the next morning because he was so weak, in part from lack of appetite. I'm happy to say that he's quickly gained back 5 lbs of the 10 he lost while on the drugs that sent him to the hospital and he's definitely eating again. So it seems the time is right to deliver the next loaf.
Davina called me the "bread fairy". She described the fun of discovering fresh baked bread at her door at random moments. I totally LOVE being called the bread fairy. I might even claim it for my own use - self-declared bread fairy. Could even show up as my user name or new handle on some online dating site. :) Hope my Dad comes to see me as a bread fairy too.
That led to a conversation about this bread project with my two friends; one who has been actively involved (Davina) and the other who knew nothing about it (Sue). Very ironic that it worked out that way since Davina is the one usually on some lo carb thing avoiding bread, and Sue is an unabashed bread lover, maybe even her favorite food. So I took it as genuine interest when she started asking questions about the ins and outs of the project. Not that I was going to be shy in talking about it; i've written 27 posts so far even though I think the number of both readers and comments is probably under 10. It seems I'm ok with just waxing on and on about this.
Really my Dad was pretty uninterested when I tried to talk to him about it. He did show some more interest when I actually arrived with bread. But to be fair I had him admitted to the hospital the next morning because he was so weak, in part from lack of appetite. I'm happy to say that he's quickly gained back 5 lbs of the 10 he lost while on the drugs that sent him to the hospital and he's definitely eating again. So it seems the time is right to deliver the next loaf.
Davina called me the "bread fairy". She described the fun of discovering fresh baked bread at her door at random moments. I totally LOVE being called the bread fairy. I might even claim it for my own use - self-declared bread fairy. Could even show up as my user name or new handle on some online dating site. :) Hope my Dad comes to see me as a bread fairy too.
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