Yesterday, the Curious Souls decided to take the dog for a walk. We were looking for somewhere that we had not yet been before, so we chose the Pawnee National Grassland. There were two very short trails in the western part of the grassland near Crow Valley Recreation Area. We hiked them both in under an hour (I said very short, right?) and were left wanting more. So, eastward we went on our way to Pawnee Buttes . Along the way, we discovered the Cedar Creek Wind Farm and plenty of wide open space. After the Buttes, we looked at the map and discovered that we were only about 20 miles south of Nebraska. And, to seal the deal, we noticed that just over the border was also the highest point in the state. Here we are at the aptly named Panorama Point. While only 5,424 feet in elevation it did have some lovely, long, expansive views into the seemingly infinite plains around us. As far as either of us could remember, this is the first time we actually visited the highest
Seriously Ellen. those are some of the most beautiful baguettes I've ever seen! Rich's never turn out like that....
ReplyDeleteThanks!! There were two things (IMO) that made me successful:
ReplyDelete1. I used 100% white flour. On the Artisan Bread site, they definitely do mixtures of white and wheat but I wanted to give myself the best chance of success so I went with the easy to use flour.
2. I used a Poolish (at the direction of the recipe) which, I learned, is basically just a pre-mix and pre-rise (preferment) of a portion of the ingredients that is added to the rest of the ingredients when you start. It made me feel like my rise had a head start. It also made me feel fancy and French.
You two should try the recipe out. It took a lot of time from start to finish (maybe five or six hours, not counting the Poolish prep) but most of that was a series of 45 minute rest periods. Other than that, it was super easy.
I use to love baking fresh bread. That was before Andrea and McKenna went gluten free. Maybe they just didn't like my bread.
ReplyDeleteYours looks amazing. Go get that bottle of wine and enjoy it!
@Jay - Rich actually told me all about your bread making - you're legendary! The bread and the wine have been devoured...time to make some more!
ReplyDeleteI also attribute the nice crusty shell to the "humidifier" that Ellen added to the oven while baking.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.artisanbreadbaking.com/breads/f_b/french21.htm