Bread, Bread, Bread!

For those of you who know me, know that I don’t eat bread often … For some unknown reason, I get the hick-ups every time! However, I love bread. David loves bread. Ally loves bread.

I was amazed when I did a cost comparison for bread made at home vs. bread purchased in the store.  David and I broke it down and found that we were averaging $4.30 a loaf at the grocery store. We then took the cost of the flour, yeast, etc. and figured out the cost per loaf at home is approximately $1.80 per loaf! Wow!

This really got me excited to figure out as many bread recipes as I could and to pledge myself to never buy bread from the grocery again, only to be met by complete failure. I had tried making bread for weeks, with flat loaves every time.

As a result of my absolute despair, David and Ally enrolled me in a bread making class, where I found out that my water was not warm enough to activate the yeast (must be 110 to 115 degrees). Alas, the weight was lifted from my shoulders and the bread frenzy began.

The class at Sur La Table was awesome and the instructor did a great job at providing us with a basic Sourdough recipe that could be transformed into everything. And the nice thing is that the machine does all the work for you, there is no hand kneading necessary.

My favorite variation is the dinner loaf … When you do the final rise add rosemary, Beecher’s cheese, roasted garlic and then sprinkle kosher salt across the top of the loaf after you put on the egg wash. Yum! Yum! Yum! This bread is definitely worth the hick-ups :)

Cooking Camp!

Ally spent the last week at cooking camp … and, I was jealous! I dropped her off Monday morning and immediately wished that I could stay and have fun too :) She learned everything from knife skills, to baking, to soups, to desserts, and even table etiquette. David and I were treated to daily samples of all the yummy things Ally learned to make. My favorite was the Frittata, which Ally made for breakfast on Saturday morning! We added broccoli and substituted all the dairy with goat dairy, which I would recommend. Not just because it is healthier for you, but the tang of the goat ads a whole other level of flavor.
  
Many thanks to Anne, Ally’s gracious host and cooking teacher, who was brave enough to take seven children into her own home for this camp - filling her kitchen with laughter, good food and amazing smells.