Henry

Henry is doing extremely well, thank you very much. This past weekend he was all effervescent and bubbly, more so than usual. Maybe it's because I fed him bread flour rather than AP flour? Right now Henry is on vacation, in the fridge. After baking some gorgeous little sourdough boules this week, I discovered, to my horror, than my freezer is beginning to overflow with homebaked bread. Yikes! The fledgling needs to return home! Or my friends need to live closer. Or both. Not baking is not an option.

To make matters worse, in baking class this week, we made a brioche-style bread, called Casatiello, that is loaded with butter, and, in my case, bacon, and swiss cheese. It's from Peter Reinhart's book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice, which we are using as a text. There was no time to bake it in class after the various proofing stages, so I took it home with me on Wednesday night, thinking to bake the 2 loaves on Thursday afternoon. But, by the time I arrived home, some 50 minutes later, the 2 loaves had risen past the top of their baking containers, so, I said what the heck, turned the oven on as soon as I walked in the door, and popped them in. After 40 minutes, they were done and set out to cool. Recommended cooling time: 1 hour. Cruel. I waited 55 minutes, then sliced one loaf. Oh Lordy! The warm bacon, melted swiss cheese, and buttery texture were to die for! The fledgling will definitely be tasting that one over winter break.

So, the quandary is, to bake bread or not to bake bread (for a little while, perhaps). Maybe it's time to spoil the neighbors, because, as I said above, not baking is not an option.