Getting My Bake On
I've been enjoying toast and jam with my tea in the evenings this week, and as a way to calm down from the nebulizer treatments. Nothing forces you to be calm like wielding a bread knife when your entire body is shaking, ya know?
And while I hope to never run out of jam, I did run out of bread. I'd been using the last baguette from my freezer, when I last baked bread a bit ago. Mmm, it was good. So it was time to make more bread.
I almost make the rookie mistake of 1 oz of dry yeast when the recipe called for 1 oz of fresh yeast -- I kept looking at the prospect of 3 tablespoons of yeast to 2 tablespoons of water to put it in, and thankfully, sanity led me to google when I couldn't get Nana on the phone.
1oz fresh yeast = 1/4 oz dry yeast = 2.25 tsp when it's in the plastic baggie in the freezer.
It's called Anadama bread and it's a traditional Massachusetts loaf, and as the story goes, Anna's husband came home to find a molasses corn meal mush on the counter, and finding nothing else (including Anna!), mixed it with flour, water and yeast while cursing "Anna, damn her!"
It's in the second rise right now.
Anadama Rising:
Anadama Stabbed:
Anadama Ready (I need more practice shaping loaves):
Anadama Eaten:
It feels slightly heavy and might benefit from being in 3 loaf pans next time, instead of 2. Or maybe in the baguette pans. I like that that does to breads. But it worked nicely with a bit of butter and some homemade blackberry jam.
Shaky as craziness right now because I just did a neb treatment right after I put it in for the first rise, otherwise I'd be throwing together another loaf -- either molasses oat bread or a baguette. I love the baguette pan that my wonder Aunt Crumpet bought me but they are upstairs and I am downstairs. So maybe tomorrow.
I have some fruit thawing right now, so tomorrow, if not tonight, I'm going to Get My Jam On. Jars are all set, plenty of sugar in the house. Now I just need the energy.
Pictures coming....
And while I hope to never run out of jam, I did run out of bread. I'd been using the last baguette from my freezer, when I last baked bread a bit ago. Mmm, it was good. So it was time to make more bread.
I almost make the rookie mistake of 1 oz of dry yeast when the recipe called for 1 oz of fresh yeast -- I kept looking at the prospect of 3 tablespoons of yeast to 2 tablespoons of water to put it in, and thankfully, sanity led me to google when I couldn't get Nana on the phone.
1oz fresh yeast = 1/4 oz dry yeast = 2.25 tsp when it's in the plastic baggie in the freezer.
It's called Anadama bread and it's a traditional Massachusetts loaf, and as the story goes, Anna's husband came home to find a molasses corn meal mush on the counter, and finding nothing else (including Anna!), mixed it with flour, water and yeast while cursing "Anna, damn her!"
Anadama Rising:
Anadama Stabbed:
Anadama Ready (I need more practice shaping loaves):
Anadama Eaten:
It feels slightly heavy and might benefit from being in 3 loaf pans next time, instead of 2. Or maybe in the baguette pans. I like that that does to breads. But it worked nicely with a bit of butter and some homemade blackberry jam.
Shaky as craziness right now because I just did a neb treatment right after I put it in for the first rise, otherwise I'd be throwing together another loaf -- either molasses oat bread or a baguette. I love the baguette pan that my wonder Aunt Crumpet bought me but they are upstairs and I am downstairs. So maybe tomorrow.
I have some fruit thawing right now, so tomorrow, if not tonight, I'm going to Get My Jam On. Jars are all set, plenty of sugar in the house. Now I just need the energy.
Pictures coming....