7 Quick Takes, Vol. 14

It's Friday, so of course that means I'm linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary for my weekly Quick Takes fix.

1. I had a newsy Thursday morning, thanks to the Pope's renunciation. Such a beautiful soul has led the Church these last several years. Emeritus Pope Benedict will continue to be in our family's prayers.

2. We are also praying for the upcoming Conclave, for the Cardinals who will be participating in it, and for the Cardinals we "adopted," Joao Braz de Aviz (from Brazil, but now Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life) and Angelo Bagnesco (Bishop of Genoa).

3. I made these gorgeous sourdough boules using this recipe. They were far superior to the last round, though Charles thinks they could still stand to be a little more sour. I have a frozen loaf for later, and I'll be more patient with the pre-bake rise, so we'll see how it turns out. Probably not more sour, but more airy, perhaps. I've definitely been sold on baking bread in my beloved Dutch oven.

Fresh from the oven goodness

4. On Wednesday, I gave in to the temptation that faces women of all ages. I cut my own bangs. They were too long and funky and I didn't have any desire to spend the time or money to get them cut. So . . . I grabbed the scissors and did the deed. I don't think they look too terrible.

5. It has been such a joyful week watching Clare explore her new found "freedom" now that she can move around on her own, even if she does "limp crawl" on the laminate. She's discovered that she can get to various rooms of the house, her baskets of toys and books, all kinds of awesome (and awesomely tasty?!?) power cords, and other treasures. She's experimenting with pulling up, so I know our next adventures await. Now, she begins the lifelong process of learning that "ability to do" is not the same "should do." Oh, free will, you double-edged sword.

Finding her toys and books

6. One of the things she has discovered is this basketball hoop that makes noise for a "slam dunk." Her beloved basketball actually goes with it. She sits obsessively slamming the hoop like older ladies in casinos pull the slot machine handles. At some point, she stops caring, but keeps on pulling anyway, mesmerized.

Basketball or orange? You be the judge.

7. I know that most of the world is in the midst of their winter doldrums, but here, we have enjoyed the most beautifully perfect weather this week. This is why people move to (or winter in) Arizona. Why else would we endure months of 100+ (and 110+) degree days?!?

Have a lovely weekend, whatever your weather!

Sourdough Bread, Part II

The Prelude

For Part I, rambling waaaaaaaay too long about making my sourdough starter, click here.

So, I have my starter. I decided to start out with the Better Homes and Gardens recipe, since I've had reasonably good luck with their bread in the past. This is the recipe. It also has the starter instructions, in case you were smart enough to skip the ramble.

The Process

I did a terrible job of taking pictures, and won't bore you with the minute step-by-step, since the recipe is linked.

First, of course, I got my stuff together. I'm often lazy about mis en place when I cook, because I have a good sense of how much time I need for particular steps and can often work for efficiently if I'm multi-tasking. For baking, though, I've learned that I need to be much more organized! Probably since it is just so much more precise of an activity. Which, in turn, is probably why it scares me so much. 

Next, I did the water warming, butter almost-melting thing, but didn't take pictures. I'm unsure of how I feel about this step, generally. I see it a lot in BH&G, but not in other places. It is effective at activating the yeast, though, so that's a good thing.

Next came mixing it all together. I cannot express enough how much I love my KitchenAid mixer.

Then, I switched over to the dough hook.

And got the whole thing a-risin'. Having it rise under a pretty towel always makes me a little extra happy. It's the little things. It rose beautifully, but, alas, I didn't get a picture, or think to take one until it was all punched down. :(

After punching came dividing and resting. I like dividing dough with my bench scraper, just because it's fun to use it for it's intended purpose (v. for moving veggies from the cutting board into the pot).

Then, I got them shaped up and ready for rise #2. Looking back (and at the online picture), I should have been more aggressive with my stop "criss cross" slashing, but the book didn't have a picture, and I was so surprised with the effect of my initial X that I let it be.

After rising and baking, this is what I got.

The Product

Both loaves were good, but not particularly sour or chewy. We've already polished off one loaf and I expect the second to be done today. Charles described it as "good homemade bread, just not very sourdough-ish."

There are several things I would do differently if I were to make this recipe again. First, I would change up the criss-crossing as I noted above. Second, I would put both loaves on the same baking sheet, so that they can bake on the same rack and, thus, be a bit more even. I'd probably also be a bit more patient with the second rise, and perhaps also with the bake time.

Next time, though, I'm going to try a different recipe. I'm already looking forward it.

Grade: B

Sourdough Bread, Part I

I've watched too many episodes of Top Chef. When I saw the salmon and sourdough challenge a couple of weeks ago, it renewed my desire to really get good at bread making. And, sorry bread machine fans, but that just doesn't cut it for me.

That's one thing I definitely got from my mom -- a love of good bread.

My time in France devouring (and I'm not exaggerating with my word choice) fresh baguettes did not help. Not one little bit.

Neither does my egg allergy, help that is, which makes me wary of the lovely, shiny-topped loaves that "may contain" egg. Sometimes that, sadly, is code for, we illicitly used an egg wash, but you'll never notice. Right?!? Wrong. My stomach will let me know. In spades.

I digress.

A couple of years ago, I learned a couple of recipes. I could make passable dinner rolls. I make a mean whole wheat loaf. But I totally stalled out. I found some stuff in the bakery section that was both tasty and kept the ol' tummy from turning over on itself. Bread making was stuffed away as something I wanted to do someday. In the future. When I got around to it.

The future is now, my friends.

Two weekends ago, I embarked on the first step of my new journey toward bread making world domination. Or something like that. Regardless, it is a fun, inexpensive, and productive hobby. And my husband is a lover of all things hobby. Especially when they involve dinner.

Again, I digress.

Working on my starter. You can see my beloved cookbook, too.

 Two weekends ago, I made the sourdough starter from my trusty, red Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. It might be old school, but it is a great gift for anyone who is learning how to cook, and is a great wedding present. The recipes (which get updated, so they are things you would actually cook!) are generally super user-friendly and are always produce good food, at least in my experience.


Digressing...

Anyway, this is the recipe in internet form. Scroll past the bread recipe (and, um ... Part II spoiler, I guess.)

Blurry picture...but all stirred up!

Not too much to look at picture-wise, but it was a snap to pull together. It did require a good amount of stirring at the beginning, but it began to smell like yeast right away. Over the days of fermentation, my husband commented several times about how much it smelled like brewing beer. It did.

Living in the corner

Fermenting away

The real test came when I made it into bread . . . but that post will have to wait 'til tomorrow.