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Bread & Books
I've become obsessed with bread-making lately. Before, we only had regular yeast, so that was what I used. This weekend I got some new quick-acting yeast. My goodness, it makes a difference! During the dough stage, the dough kneaded instead of sticking to the paddle and being whapped against the sides of the breadmaker, and the white loaf with candied lemon peel currently in the breadmaker is getting a HUGE, POOFY, delicious-looking crust. Only 20 minutes left!
Books I read this weekend:
Dust, Elizabeth Bishop
The Virgin of Flames, Chris Abani
Usagi Yojimbo, vol. 1, Stan Sakai
...all I can say about these right now is that they are very different from each other.
I also took a lot of pictures and video at the Franklin Park Zoo. Baby giraffe! Two day old baby wildebeest! Newly hatched butterfiles! A really close closeup of a Kia parrot! A twenty minute conversation with a cockatoo!
Also had two lovely BBQs.
Reviews of books, and pictures from the zoo, to come.
Also, if you care about book design, these will make you happy. The Penguin Great Ideas series cover designs:
Series 1
Series 2
Series 3
Books I read this weekend:
Dust, Elizabeth Bishop
The Virgin of Flames, Chris Abani
Usagi Yojimbo, vol. 1, Stan Sakai
...all I can say about these right now is that they are very different from each other.
I also took a lot of pictures and video at the Franklin Park Zoo. Baby giraffe! Two day old baby wildebeest! Newly hatched butterfiles! A really close closeup of a Kia parrot! A twenty minute conversation with a cockatoo!
Also had two lovely BBQs.
Reviews of books, and pictures from the zoo, to come.
Also, if you care about book design, these will make you happy. The Penguin Great Ideas series cover designs:
Series 1
Series 2
Series 3
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Breadmaker
Please tell me about your breadmaker/breadmachine. After reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, I'd like to eat less and less industrial foods, and bread struck me as possibly a good place to begin cutting out preservatives and high-fructose corn syrup, and other things that just don't seem like they should be in food.
In any case, I have had two experiences with breadmachines back in the 90's, and neither bread was good.
What kind do you own, and where do you get your recipes? (I remember the old ones sold "bread mixes." These struck me as a marketing ploy, and do not satisfy my "less industrial food" impulse."
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I would love to try fresh yeast, but I can't find where to get any.
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I will probably make more tomorrow as this loaf seemed to disappear at twice the rate of any of the previous ones. Maybe cinna-raisin.
Re: Breadmaker
I started out making bread by hand, which I recommend a few times because it's fun and because you get a real feel for all the ways it can go wrong and right, so when you start making in the breadmaker you have a little bit of an idea how to adjust.
I used a Sunbeam-Oster 4810-1 automatic breadmaker, though I don't think they make it anymore. I had to really hunt to find the manual online.
There are some recipies in the manual, and there are some recipies in a breadmaker cookbook which one of my previous roommates left behind when her breadmaker died soon after she moved in.
It is hard to adapt breadmaker recipies for hand baking, I think, as since in the breadmaker it "knows" how long to rise or knead based on the dough type you pick (wheat, white, whatever) and none of the breadmaker recipies tell you how hot to cook it at, either, as the breadmaker "knows" that too.
I have been using "Bread Machine" by Jennie Shapter. Highly recommended. It has sections for small, medium and large breadmakers for each recipie, and the different kinds of bread range from simple to complicated. Plus the pictures are gorgeous; it's like breadrotica.
I think mixes are stupid; they're more expensive anyway than the basic ingredients: flour, water, yeast, butter, sugar, and salt.
I am making breads that I would pay lots of $ for for about $2 each in cost of ingredients.
It's very easy to make most of them vegan if you use egg replacer and soy butter; I am also eating more whole-wheat bread because it tastes great instead of like cardboard from the store. If you are a no-honey vegan you can use molasses or maple syrup.
The thing you will spend the most on is flour, especially if you are into multi-grain stuff. You will end up buying a lot of flour. I get a lot of flour at Whole Foods and other natural food stores, from the bulk bin. Store in airtight containers to keep out moisture and bugs.
Your yeast is important; I just get yeast at the local supermarket. Get the type of yeast recommended for the recipie, and make sure to follow the instructions in the breadmaker. Some have you put the yeast in first, some have you put the yeast in last. It's very important!
I really like the breadmaker: it's less hot in the summer than running the oven, and it rises the bread for you so in the winter it won't be too cold to rise. It's also faster and I can go to bed and have fresh bread in the morning. :)
I also have tried this bread: "No knead bread," from the New York Times.
I also used this bread: Easy Vegan Wheat Bread.
I have also made pizza dough with herbs.
That comes out really good if you can get it to rise right.
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I've never used fresh yeast, but if you decide to get some I'd be willing to share. Chowhound has a thread on buying fresh yeast in the boston area and seems to think that you can get small blocks of it in most grocery stores, but I'm not sure where in the store. Maybe try Harvest or Whole Foods in the cooler section?
Thank you!
I really appreciate the advice and book and recipe recommendations; thanks again!
Bread Alone
I'm thinking of getting it because I like the title so damn much!
Re: Breadmaker
MMM LOAFY