Are you sure this isn’t a food blog? What does this have to do with Needlework, Reading, Writing, or Life in Alaska?

Hmmm…good point. Let me think about that, and I’ll get back to you.

—–

The hummus demanded bread. So I made Whole Wheat French Bread with Beer. Whole Wheat Sourdough French Bread is better, but I don’t currently have a sourdough pot, so beer it was.

Now, most of my bread recipes are for two loaves, and that’s just too much. I have learned to divide and freeze the dough after the first rising, baking four Bitty Baguettes at separate times. It’s great–fresh bread more often and no pressure to overdose on carbs in order to finish the loaves before they mold.

I enjoy making bread by hand. My first efforts at bread were fairly dismal. The word “brick” comes to mind. And then my sister-in-law got us this book: Garden Way Publishing’s Bread Book, by Ellen Johnson. Reading the how-to intro of this book was like waving a magic wand over my dough: it was transformed. While there are many variables that keep results surprising, for the most part, my bread is consistently good these days.

And the recipes in this book are mmmmm! North African Coriander Bread…Wedding Bread from Crete…Sourdough English Muffins…Lacy Corn Cakes…boy, do I love this cookbook. It’s out of print, but there’s a used one for sale on Amazon…for $50.00! (Nope, mine’s not for sale, not even for $50.00.)

Ellen Johnson has a more recent bread book, though, that may be similar.

—–

See? Now it’s a book-y post. So there.