What went before: Though the poolish survived, the bread . . . was not perfect. The dough stayed sticky, rather than firming up, and trying to slash it before putting it in the oven was an exercise in comedy. The loaves came out of the oven looking like two very large potatoes. The bread does taste good, though the crust is too chewy, and I say this as someone who likes bread that fights back. So! A learning experience. I’ll be trying again.
Onward!
Monday. Cloudy and 20F/-6C, heading for the tropical high temp of 36F/2C. <fe>I may have to open the windows.</fe>
Ate the second banana — which was soft and sweet. First cup of tea brewing. Need to seek out the rest of breakfast, which was! A blueberry muffin and cottage cheese. I have no idea what’s for lunch.
Today is straightening up the house, which I never got round to the other day, getting some vacuuming done, taking care of computer domains — which I also let slide — and sitting in a chair with a pad of paper and a pen, staring at nothing.
Full day, right there.
How’s Monday treating everybody so far?
Below, an action shot from last night’s Cat Dancer tournament.
Oooo . . . that looks like my kitties’ favorite dance partner! Today it’s back to work for me, in front of the computer virtually all day. Except the house never got dusted and vacuumed this past weekend and the home-visit vet is supposed to arrive for the first time this week, so I’d rather have the house visitor-ready. This will require some juggling of responsibilities today and tomorrow.
Chitty-Kitty went off to the emergency vet this morning, having not eaten but vomiting up foam. She is 15, recently adopted from her previous Mom who passed away at 102. At 15 she has been still very active, we hope she will continue to be!
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Fred
Re: slashing bread dough
I bought a lame, a while back, and have had mixed results. occasionally it works nicely, other times it just drags the dough around and helps deflate it.
what DOES work for me, is to take the bread knife (careful: SHARP) and gently drag it over the dough, which pretty much always just
falls away in a gash. a very sharp serrated steak knife works fairly well, too.
I wonder if oiling the knife would help the slashing.
The last time I made bread, I was playing with much higher hydration. I went as high as 85%. I was trying the lift and slap method for handling. Alas, I think I mostly demonstrated that I didn’t understand the technique. The bread was alright, though.
This was a very sticky dough, and I don’t have the feel for it, yet. Onward.