From 365 Days of Photos 2010

Long before I had ever heard of the Julie/Julia Project, I set out to bake my way through Bernard Clayton’s New Complete Book of Breads. I’d borrowed the book from the library so many times it probably spent more time on my shelf than the their’s. When I finally bought the book, thanks to a gift card I received, I decided to try every recipe in the book. When I try a recipe, I date it and add any comments. There’s no deadline, but I try things as I’m inspired to—usually about once a week.

Some have been real hits, like the Lemon Honey Whole Wheat bread. Other’s like the German Sour Cream Twists were a one-time-only trial. (We decided that the taste didn’t justify the richness of ingredients.) The Brioche dough is a joy. As the basis for Petite Pain Au Chocolate, or baked into a cylindrical loaf destined to become the best French toast on the planet, it is worth the effort. Today I tried the Hamburger Buns. They turned out perfectly, sprinkled with flax seeds in lieu of the poppy or sesame seeds in the recipe.

This book covers almost every type of bread, yeast raised or otherwise, including crackers, soda biscuits and quick breads. There’s even instructions on how to build a outdoor bread oven, which has me eyeing up various corners of the yard for the perfect location. The instructions cover mixer, hand kneading or food processor processes.

I admit two things I don’t like about many of the recipes. I don’t care to use ‘quick rise’ yeast. The workaround for this is of course is to proof the yeast in the liquid (or portion thereof). And consistently, my comments have included “too salty”. I usually reduce the salt to one teaspoon per three cups of flour called for. For instance, today’s hamburger buns called for one tablespoon of salt, but I added slightly less than two teaspoons with excellent results.

And it’s Groundhog Day!

The groundhog saw his shadow—which means six weeks more winter. Around here, we’d be lucky to have only six weeks more winter. But nevertheless, good news or bad, we have the annual Groundhog Day cake.  It’s also Candlemas and traditionally time to take down the Christmas greenery.

DOWN with the rosemary and bays,
Down with the mistletoe ;
Instead of holly, now up-raise
The greener box (for show).

William Henry Husk, Songs of the Nativity (London: John Camden Hotten, 1868)

So while the sparkle of the Christmas season may be long gone, today is a good excuse to light some candles and enjoy!