Sunday, January 29, 2012

Baking Bread




The first assignment for Tuesdays with Dorie were the white loaves in Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. I never made bread before. To be honest, I was a little scared at how the loaves would turn out. Bread always seemed like a lot of work (at least that is what my mom told me), but I have this fantasy of becoming this amazing bread-maker, perhaps it is all that sexualized socialization taking it's toll. Making bread seems so simple. All that is needed is a few ingredients. Plus, the house smells so nice as bread bakes and the idea of making bread just seems to emit feelings of warmth and comfort; perfect for a January winter day (though I am ignoring the 60 something degree weather we have here in Houston as I write this...).

The girls were so excited. Maya, my daughter, LOVES bread, particularly toast with butter. When they heard the timer go off on the oven both Maya and Amara came running to see what delights where about to emerge. They were so excited and wanted to eat the bread as soon as it came out.

After eating all their veggie and protein the gals were permitted their fresh-from-the-oven bread. Maya said, "Wow, this bread is yummy," and I got about 3-4 "really" yummies from Amara. They ate two pieces each. Erik, my husband, gave the bread a 7.8 out of 10. He is a hard critic.

Erik gave it a 7.8 because it had a beautiful, crunchy crust, but it was a little dense. I am not sure if the density was caused by using the dough hook on the Kitchen Aid instead of kneading by hand, or if I did not knead/mix it for quite enough time, or perhaps the dough may have even over-worked it. It does not matter though because density aside it was damn good with and with-out butter. Plus, we have bread for the week, and another loaf in the freezer for the week after. How cool is that?

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Baking with Julia, my new creative outlet...maybe.


My life has become incredibly busy with two almost 4 year old children to play with and working part-time writing and much of what I used to do to be creative has gone by the way side. Most of the time when I read a book it is for learning purposes...unless it is a cook-book or my new obsession, The Game of Thrones series. Recently I bought a cook-book for my sister-in-law, Melissa by Dorie Greenspan. I borrowed it from the library over the holidays to make sure it was a good present before buying the gift for her it was, Baking, From My Home to Yours. I loved it, and as I do with most cook-books these days, read it like a novel, salivating over the beautiful pictures. For my cookie-swap this year I made the rugelech, which came out delicious (if I do say so myself), and I made yummy chocolate ginger-bread for Christmas. While researching Dorie's other books I came across Tuesdays with Dorie, a blog network of bakers who actually spent 4 years blogging and baking through Baking. It sounded so cool.

In February the blog network will start all over again baking their way through another cookbook Dorie wrote with one of my all time favorite authors and cooks, Julia Child. So...I am going to sign up. I am not sure I can bake from the book every week, but I believe it is 2 recipes a month starting in February. If it ever becomes stressful or hectic I can stop, but it sounds like fun. It sounds like it could be a possible creative outlet, one in which I will learn a thing or two...I need some fun in my life that is my own. Sometimes life gets busy and I forget what fun was like, what with the running around and crazy schedules. So, I am signing up...God help me, to bake with this community of people who will bake their way through Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. I will be making all different types of breads, french pastries...perhaps even a wedding cake (maybe I can have a block party for that one!). I am excited, but also want to be aware of taking on too much or having added pressure and stress in order to "do" the recipes for the month. I want to, "be" and breathe my way into baking enlightenment, so I am back. Hello...Again.