I don’t grow any of my own food. I can keep store-bought basil plants alive for a decent amount of time, but that’s really it. There is a backyard garden in my brain, but I’m not yet convinced I have the time to devote to it. We don’t get much sun. It seems like more of a challenge than I’m willing to take on right now.
Luckily, other people grow food for me. In addition to our CSA boxes (more on that later this week), sometimes I come to work to find the Produce Fairy has left me a little treat on my desk.
Today, it was this snack-sized cucumber and red bell pepper:
It’s nice to have friends whose thumbs are so green.
Bread Update
This happened:
They tell me my oven was too hot or my middle rack was too low. Probably both. I scraped off the burnt bottoms and have declared them edible, so they are now in my freezer.
Thanks to everyone who’s been kind enough to provide me with their favourite bread recipes. I will try them all. We don’t have a bread maker, so I’ll be mixing either by hand or in my stand mixer and baking in the oven. My mother uses her bread maker regularly, so I’ll pass those recipes along to her.
Keep that advice coming.
Monique Makes Do 
Alison found a library book on bread and I have since been making the following Artisan Bread recipe. It is a no kneed recipe and we love the bread it makes.
6.5 cups of flour (up to 4 can be whole wheat) sifted, I spoon the flour from the container into the measuring cup. Don’t scoop right into the measuring cup as it will increase the flour and make the dough too dense.
1.5 Tbsp salt (kosher or sea)
2 Tbsp yeast
3 cups warm water
Hand mix in a large bowl until flour is mixed in and then 40 more beats. I don’t necessarily count the whole 40. Use a heavy wooden spoon though. Once mixed cover and let ties for 2 hours.
After the rise time dump out onto a lightly floured work area. The dough makes 2 French loaves, 4 baguettes or a bunch of buns.
Form the dough into the desired shape with minimal flour. It should have a soft smooth feel. I form it on a pizza peel with corn meal as an anti stick material, be generous with the cornmeal. Cover and let rise for 40 min. Preheat the oven to 450F with a pizza stone if you have one, and an empty cake pan. Before putting the dough into the oven slice the top about 1 inch deep with a sharp knife (5-6 in a cross hatch on French bread, 3-4 parallel on a baguette and X on the buns) I am not sure if this is necessary or just aesthetic but I always do it. Then pour 2cups of water into the pan. ( this generates steam that helps make the bread crusty on the outside and moist on the inside.
French loaves bake for ~25min, baguettes for ~20min and buns for ~17min.
The dough can be wrapped and stored in the fridge for a week, but I prefer to bake right away and freeze the extra.
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