The Definite Article

We bought freshly picked garlic, broad beans, baby spinach, salad greens, lemon curd, hand churned butter, wild boar sausages, free range eggs, unhomogenized, unpasteurized milk, tomatoes (red, green & yellow), razorneck clams, patty pans (yes!), raspberry juice, carrots, a free range chicken, spinach and tons and tons of other stuff. Basically what you see in the pictures from earlier.

I came back and Helen and I baked bread and made mayonnaise. I've become a huge fan of homemade mayonnaise, although I refuse to use a whisk and break out the electric mixer every time.

I've also stopped making my bread by hand. I know, I know, it's just a sham half-existence I'm leading, but I love those dough hooks. Making bread is so much easier with the dough hooks. Five minutes with the electric mixer and no more wooden spoon elbow.

I've been experimenting with temperatures, ingredients and method and have decided a few things:

1. The only ingredient you need to measure is the liquid - which is sometimes water and sometimes milk, depending on the type of bread I want to make. I always use two and one quarter cups and nothing else needs to be measured.

2. The yeast is more important than the flour. Good, hard flour is still vital (ha ha! Get it?) but the good yeast can get amazing results from some tepid, cheap flour and bad yeast will ruin a loaf. Buy fresh cake yeast - it's cheap, it lasts well in the fridge, and the bread is amazing.

3. Never forget the vinegar. Red wine vinegar is best but I'm still partial to cider vinegar, out of nostalgia. Just a capful is all you need.

4. Braided loaves look great.

5. A butter brushed crust on milk bread shortened with butter; an ice cube in the oven (right at the end) for water loaves shortened with vegetable oil.

6. It's all in the wrist. Some people can knead and others cannot and while it can be learned, it really takes patience on the part of the teacher.

Anyway, I would show you some pictures of bread that I made, but we've eaten it all!