Blackberry Strawberry Pie

Today is an important day. The first day of summer. Now, of course, I have been waiting for this day for a VERY long time, but now that its here, I am at a loss with what to do with myself. It seems like before summer, i had all these grand ideas about what I was going to do. All of them seem to have happily flown from my head. I think its time to employ some of that creativity that I haven't used in quite a long time. It might need some time to get used to being used again because I can't currently think of anything to do. I can't bake because someone (my mother) must approve it which she probably won't because its hot outside.  Hmmm......

It's not that I don't have anything exciting planned because I do. In 24 short days, I will be boarding a plane all by myself to make the trip to New York City. I'm so freaking exciting I can't contain myself. I'm taking "New York in the 19th Century" or something of that sort. It's all about reading all these accounts of what life was like in the 1800s. Don't ask me why I didn't take the theater course, because I am at a complete loss as to why I signed up for this course. It'll be exciting anyway, though. We have to read a book called Writing New York: A Literary Anthology. So far, I've only made it through about three of the pieces, but I have to say that they are pretty interesting. The first one was about the history of Manhattan by Washington Irving. I was expecting a very difficult piece that was full of old language. Surprisingly, it was rather hilarious. Who knew that classic writers could be funny? The second one, however, by James Kirke Paulding was so weird. He didn't even write in complete sentences. It was full of ellipses and I had no idea what he was talking about for half of it. Ah well, at least it started out well.

I think when I'm in New York I have class in the morning and then I think we get to sign up for all this cool stuff to do in the afternoon, like dance classes and yoga in Central Park. You bet that I'm going to go see at least one show. OH MY GOODNESS I CAN HARDLY HANDLE THE EXCITEMENT.

The only issue is of the cost. My mom is paying or it but I am responsible for paying her back at least a part of the money. I can't get a job because I am too young. I was thinking of setting up some sort of baking service. Like, if someone needs cookies for a function or cake or something, they could call me up and I would bake it for them. I just have to figure out how to get it started. There, that's what I can work on!

Anyway, this pie is kind of a combination of a couple of recipes. I always use the same recipe for pie crust because it works better than any other one I've used before. Then, I just looked up a recipe for berry filling and adapted it to use only blackberries and strawberries. It turned out pretty darn well if you ask me. Delicious! I'd give you the recipes but I seem to have misplaced them unfortunately. Have a wonderful start to the summer.

Grill Bread

Hi there. Don't you love spring? The nice weather, the sunlight, the flowers.... It's great, especially after the horrible coldness of winter. I certainly love it. Well, i did. Right now, unfortunately, it is sleeting. Yes, at the end of April. That's what you get for living in Colorado. the land of wait five minutes for the weather to change.

Anyway, for a while there, the weather was absolutely beautiful. It was warm. Like so warm that i didn't have to wear tights with dresses and skirts. It was great. And, of course, that also means its time to break out the grill. During the summer, all we do is grill. I love the favor that it gives everything. Charred and delicious.

In my opinion, when you grill you should go all out. So why not grill bread, too? And that's what we did. Now, this bread is really quite amazing. It's made just like normal bread, it needs to rise for an hour and 15 minutes. It has a great flavor though. It uses both sesame oil and olive oil which gives it a unique flavor that I love. It also has a TON of scallions which you can increase or decrease to your liking. Enjoy the start of grill time!

Grill Bread

1 package yeast
1 tsp sugar
4 1/2 cups flour
12 green onions
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp salt
1 tsp coarsely ground pepper

Mix yeast and sugar with 1 1/4 cups of warm water. Let stand until foamy. Mix yeast mixture with 1 1/2 cups of flour, onion, oils, salt, and pepper. Gradually stir in 2 1/2 cups flour. Mix thoroughly, knead ten minutes. (may add1/4 cup flour) Shape into ball, place into oiled bowl and turn to oil the top. Let rise one hour. Punch down. Cover and let rest 15 minutes. Shape into 6 8" circles. Grill 2-3 minutes (may need longer cooking time) per side.

Food Trivia Wednesday: Popcorn

Personally, I think that popcorn is addicting. I mean have you ever just eaten a small amount of popcorn? In a movie theatre, if I am given popcorn, it's usually all gone before the movie even starts. I don't really have a sense of patience. at all. It's just SOO good. You can also utilize popcorn in a bajillion different ways. Caramel corn, popcorn balls, cheesy popcorn, etc. All delicious. Here are some little known facts:

1. Popcorn was first introduced at the first Thanksgiving at Plymouth.
2. The colonists then ate popcorn with milk and sugar (cereal)
3. 17 quarts are eaten by Americans every year.
4. The world's largest popcorn channel at 12 feet long, 40,000 pounds of sugar, 280 gallons of corn syrup, and 400 gallons of water.
5. The Marion Popcorn Festival attracts over 200,000 people every year.
6. There is a Wyandot Popcorn Museum. 'nuff said.
7. Popcorn kernels can pop up to 3 feet in the year.

Almond Macaroons

I think that I may have macaroons coming out of my ears. Do you KNOW how many macaroons I've made in the last two days? It's ridiculous.

That's the price I pay for agreeing to be in charge of dessert for Passover. These are almond macaroons though. I like these much better. They use almond paste, egg whites, sugar, and salt. Not much eh? It makes them all the more enjoyable. I have not got the recipe right now but enjoy the pictures!

Food Trivia Wednesdays: Coconut

I can't deny it. Coconut has been on my mind a lot. Only because I have made dozens of macaroons over the last two days, all of which use way too much coconut to be comfortable. Anyway, it's a pretty appropriate ingredient for food trivia this week, no?

Every year, 150 people are killed by coconuts. Apparently, that's ten times the number of people killed by sharks. Wouldn't that be a sad way to die? So, I think the moral of this story is, do not worry so much about prowling sharks in the water on your vacation. Instead, avoid coconut trees.

Coconut water is the liquid inside the coconut, coconut milk is coconut steeped in hot water and then strained, and coconut cream is coconut milk cooked down until it thickens. Oh my, so much to remember!

About 20 billion are produced each year. Can you believe that's all the facts online. Well that's sad. I'm sorry. Next week will be more promising I swear.

Macaroons

I LOVE sleep. I never realized how incredibly awesome it is. Like legit. I'm on spring break right now so sleep is actually attainable. No getting up at 5 am for an entire WEEK. and it was 78 degrees today. I think mother nature is trying to tell us all that summer should come 2 months early. I definitely be ok with that.

And in other news, both absolutely horrible and incredibly awesome. On Monday I discovered to my absolute horror that I did not make it into the highest choir at my school, while both my best friends did. It just confirms my own mediocrity and unworthiness. But then today, I found out that I made it into that Barnard program over the summer in New York. I'm pretty much psyched. Maybe I didn't make it into the choir because of the summer program. I'll just stick with that because it makes me feel better.

Next week is Passover and I am in charge of all the desserts. Since I have school the day of the seder, I got a bunch of my baking done today. I made regular and chocolate macaroons. I've never had chocolate ons before but I can't imagine that anything involving chocolate and coconut could be all that horrible. The camera is being stupid right now so you all will have to live with no pictures. I'm sure that will difficult since SO many people read my ramblings. That's no problem, however, it's still kind of fun writing to nobody.

These stick like none other and they spread quite a bit more than you would expect so you might want to spray the paper.
Macaroons
Martha Stewart

3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven o 325. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, coconut, egg whites, vanilla, and salt. Using your hands, mix well, completely combining ingredients.
3. Dampen hands with cold water. Use 1 1/2 tablespoons to form mounds; place on prepared baking sheet, spacing each 1 inch apart.
4. Bake until golden brown, 16 to 17 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate version: PLace 4 oz. of semisweet chocolate in a heatproof bowl and melt. Increase coconut to 2 2/3 cup and combine all ingredients with 1/4 cup of cocoa and chocolate.

Food Trivia Wednesday: Chocolate

Yes, I know it's slightly silly that my last post was a food trivia Wednesday and this post is also one, but that's the spice of life!

Chocolate. is. DELICIOUS. My mother is like the biggest chocoholic in the entire world. I'm pretty partial to it as well. Those clever Mayans! They will never know how much happiness they created in my life.

In the seventeenth century, a "death by chocolate" occurred. If I had to die, that would be preferable. But I'd rather not die. Cacao was used as currency in ancient Mexico because it was so very valuable.

People spend over $7 billion on chocolate every year. That is great investing if you ask me. Each person eats 12 pounds per year on average. I probably eat more than that but who's paying attention?

Food Trivia Wednesday: Onions

So I've decided to implement a new weekly post to keep up the activity on the site and to learn some useless random information that hardly anyone needs. But that's why it's fun.

What popular ingredient did ancient Egyptians place their right hand on when taking an oath?

 Yes that's right. An onion. It's supposedly symbolized eternity. I can sort of see why. Don't you feel like crying for eternity for after cutting an onion? My grandpa likes to eat onions like apples. Then his breath makes me want to run for eternity in the other direction. He should eat some parsley because apparently it gets rid of foul onion odor.

Anyway, the Egyptians worshipped the onion and it was the only vegetable that had the privilege to be made out of gold by the artists. No other veggie can claim that honor. I think I'd like to have a gold onion in my room.

An old English rhyme states that the thickness of an onion skin can predict the severity of the coming winter. Thick skins mean bad weather. I think that those onions just might be more helpful than Punxsutawney Phil.

So there you have it. More than you ever wanted to know about onions and what goes on in my brain on a daily basis. Happy Wednesday!

Chocolate-Cranberry Scones

Hey there.

Long time no see.

It's been an entire month. Hard to believe right? It doesn't seem like it could have passed so darned quickly. Now, I suppose I should give y'all some sort of excuse for being gone for such a long time. (not that much of anyone except me reads this but I'll have fun telling myself anyway)

The answer is quite simple. It begins with an m. and end with an l. That's right. MUSICAL! The best and worst thing about it is that it takes up about y entire life. Especially the last two weeks. On those days, we go to school at 7:15 and stay until 9 pm. or sometimes later. Which is fun but I almost died of exhaustion. They don't call it Hell Week for no reason. If only those pesky teachers would stop giving homework. Then I'd be fine.

So there was Hell Week. and then there was show week. I love performing. I always forget how much fun it is until I get up there in front of the entire theater and see the hundreds of faces staring back at me. Its so wonderful. I can't even describe it.

Anyway, the show went WONDERFULLY. We did Hello, Dolly! My school is known for having the best shows around and we did not disappoint. If I do say so myself. We always get our show filmed and the guy who filmed it told my choir teacher that it was the best high school show he had ever seen. Stuff like that makes me feel happy inside. Like i actually did something worthwhile.

And then there's the sad part. Because now it's over. And all my senior buddies are leaving. The minute the curtain closed after the finale of the last show, I burst into tears. That is not usually like me. It didn't happen last year, but I couldn't contain myself . I'm sure I looked really great after crying with pounds of stage makeup slathered on my face. All I can say is, I cannot wait for next year.

My mom has recently incurred a baking ban against me. No sweet things until we eat all the other sweet things I made that are now being stored in the freezer. Which limits the possibilities to bread for dinner. Apparently, however, breakfast pastries do not fall under the ban because she did allow me to make scones.

These ones are fairly delicious. Buttery and nutty and oaty. I think you can pretty much use whatever add-ins you want. I was going to only use craisins but then I discovered that we only had about a 1/4 cup. After I put them in. So I inserted a good handful of chocolate chips. they turned out wonderfully.

Scones
adapted from Joy the Baker who adapted from Dorie Greenspan

1 large egg

1/2 cup cold buttermilk

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups old fashioned oats

1/3 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1/2 to 3/4 cup add-ins (nuts, chocolate, dried fruit, fresh fruit, etc)

1 stick plus 2 Tablespoons (10 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, grated on a box grater or cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and place a rack in the center of the oven.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and set aside.  

Stir the eggs and buttermilk together and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a large bowl.  Using a box grater, quickly grate the butter until all is shredded and add to the dry ingredients, using your fingers to quickly incorporate the butter and flour mixture.  If you don’t have a box grater, you can also simply cut the butter into small pieces and quickly rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it is pebbly.  

Pour the egg and buttermilk miture over the dry ingredients and stir with a fork just until the dough, which will be wet and sticky, comes together.  Add the berries.

Still in the bowl, gently knead the dough by hand or turn it with a rubber spatula about 8 to 10 times.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and press the dough until you have a circle that is about 1 1/2-inches thick.  Use a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop to portion out 12  scone dough balls.  At this point the scones can be frozen on the baking sheet, then wrapped airtight.  Don’t defrost before baking, just add about 2 more minutes to the baking time.  

Bake for 20 minutes or until their tops are golden and firmish.  Transfer them to a rack and col for 10 minutes before serving, or wait for the scones to cool to room temperature.

Valentine's Day Cookies

I'm not really sure why some people hate Valentine's Day so much. I kinda like it. It reminds of those parties I used to have in elementary school where everyone would make a Valentine's Day box and get little valentines with catchy sayings on them.

"You're magical!"

"Will you be my valentine?"

"You rock my world!"

It always made feel special even though all of my classmates got exactly the same valentines. And I got TONS of candy which, of course, I devoured within 2 hours. In tenth grade, we do not have parties on a regular basis. Except, apparently, in French class. My insane French teacher made us make cards with a poem on the inside and romantic sayings on the outside. Of course, it was all in French so chances are no one would no what you were talking about anyway. My poem was about my dog. Very romantic, I know. Anyway, she had the German kids come in and we had to exchange cards. VERY AWKWARD.

Even if we do not have parties, the unmistakable air of romance lingers in the hallways. The student government (alliance) sells roses and notes that you can buy at lunch and send to your sweetheart. Hand holding and hugging (and sometimes more) can be observed down nearly every corridor. And then there's always Sweethearts aka the annual Sadie Hawkins Dance where the girls ask the boys to go to the ball with them.


This year, this was very anxiety-inducing. Last year, I didn't really have anyone in mind who I would like to ask, but this year was a different story. I went back and forth about asking him for close to two weeks before making up my mind. Or rather, my friends made up my mind for me. It shouldn't have been that stressful. I knew he would say yes because he asked me to Homecoming in September but I was still doubtful despite all the evidence to the contrary.

Some girls go all out for the big question. For instance, a girl I know wrote cheesy sayings on sticky notes and plastered them to her boyfriend's car. That was slightly (a lot) out of my comfort zone so I stuck to a balloon. It was red. And shiny. And heart-shaped. It said his name on one side and "Sweethearts?"  ad my name on the other. And it also seemed like a good idea at the time although I may have been very wrong about that.

Since we're both in musical, I decided to ask him during a Saturday rehearsal we had a few weeks ago. I planned to leave it in the theater room and just let it hang there until he figured out it was for him. Maybe that way I could avoid some awkwardness. not.

It seemed fairly straightforward, but, as always, it did not work out quite according to plan. Apparently the janitors in the building think 9 am is too early to unlock any of the classroom doors. Yes, when I got there the door was locked. shut tight. My heart started going into overdrive. Okay, scrap Plan A. Now I was outside the room with a very suggestive balloon in front of the entire cast and some of the crew. Never mind about that whole "avoiding any awkwardness" thing.

And then he came and I almost had a heart attack. My mouth wasn't capable of working so I just threw the balloon at him. He looked at it, then looked at me, smiling. I found my voice and asked, "Is that a yes?" He gave me a hug. Best. Day. EVER.

Here's a recipe for heart shaped cookies. Very romantic. Enjoy! from Martha Stewart

• 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder into a bowl.
2. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs and lemon juice. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Divide dough in half; flatten each half into a disk. Wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds. Let one disk of dough stand at room temperature just until soft enough to roll, about 10 minutes. Roll out dough between two pieces of plastic wrap to 1/4-inch thick. Remove top layer of plastic wrap. Cut out cookies with a 6-inch fluted heart shaped cookie cutter. Transfer cookie dough on plastic wrap to a baking sheet. Transfer baking sheet to freezer, and freeze dough until very firm, about 15 minutes. Remove baking sheet from freezer and transfer shapes to baking sheets lined with nonstick baking mats. Roll out scraps, and repeat. Repeat with remaining disk of dough.
4. Bake, switching positions of sheets and rotating halfway through, until edges turn golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

Brownies

I really do not understand why the male portion of the human race, specifically located in the nation of the United States of America, is so freaking OBSESSED with football. I really don't. Shoes, on the other hand, are something completely natural to obsess over, but football? Really? It's just a game where big men run around tackling each other. Apparently, its exciting watching one person get crushed under five humongous giants. I will never know what makes that exciting. I'll just write it off as one of those mysteries about boys that I am never likely to solve.

The good thing about the Super Bowl is that it gives me an excuse to make things. Like brownies for instance. Football is an American pastime right? So, I figured, why not make something else that is comfortingly American. Brownies fit the bill perfectly. Also on the menu for tonight: turkey and bison sliders, guacamole, mango salsa, and homemade oven-baked fries (sweet potato and regular). What a little slice of America.

And so, tonight will culminate in me and my sister sitting in front of the T.V. cheering. But not for the game. For the commercials.

Brownies
I got this recipe from smittenkitchen.com. It makes very fudgy brownies, so much so that they are actually slightly difficult to get out of the pan whole. But they are pretty darn delicious.


10 tbsp. butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs, cold
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 walnut or pecan halves (optional)

Position a rack on the lower third of the oven and reheat it to 325 degrees. Line an 8x8 square pan with parchment paper.

Combine butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set it over a pan of barely simmering water. Heat until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well-blended, add the flour and stir until it disappears. Beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the spoon. Stir in the nuts, if desired, and then spread evenly in the pan.

Bake until toothpick comes out slightly damp, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely, cut, and enjoy!

Granola

I may not have blogged in over a week, but that sure doesn't mean I haven't been working at all. In the interest of making this site as awesome as it can possibly be, I decided to mess around and see whether or not I could improve the look. I was  gallivanting around the Blogger help page when I found the page about using templates from another site. What?? I thought to myself. You can use templates other than the generic ones they provide??? OOOOOHHHHH this could be interesting.


And so, I began working my way through blogskins.com. I found several that I liked a bunch, so i decided to try one on for size and see how it fit. I actually had trouble finding out how to download the template and when I successfully downloaded one, I could not for the life of me figure out how to actually put it on my site. I followed the instructions, but it all dealt with html coding and weird computery stuff that my poor 15-year-old brain can't focus on. Oh well, it was a nice try. I accepted the fact that I probably would just go on having a blog with a plain face.

The next day, however, I had another go at it just for kicks. This time, I looked up "blog templates" on google and clicked on the first link that appeared, btemplates.com. This time it worked. I thought my little blog looked so FREAKING AWESOME. There were little tabs and everything that you could click on. But no,it turns out the tabs were not clickable.  Dang it!! Just when I thought life was great, another problem crops up. I found a few instructions about how to insert material but I was done with the whole html thing. I found another template that is just as cute with no tabs. Maybe sometime when I'm feeling less drained from musical and school I'll spend the time to actually figure out what I'm doing. In the meantime, I like the present status of my blog.


Also, this weekend I made granola. Yup, that hippie grub that they all used to eat up in Boulder (or so my mom tells me). I think its pretty delicious however. You can pretty much do whatever you want to with it. Feel like cashews instead of almonds? Dried apricots instead of raisins? Go for it. I decided to go with almonds and craisins due to my house's lack of raisins and sunflower seeds. We had plenty of coconut left over from macaroons on passover but no honey, so I used light corn syrup instead and it turned out fine. Maybe, way WAY deep down I really am a hippie. I am vice president and cofounder of the Green Club at school after all. Enjoy!


Great Granola
from Jane Brody's Good Food Book


1/4 cup butter or margarine, or a combination
1/4 cup honey
3 cups rolled oats (regular or quick)
1 cup shredded or flaked coconut (optional)
1 cup sunflower seeds (untoasted)
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup wheat germ (optional)
2/3 cup raisins


1. In a large oven-proof skillet or 9x13-inch baking pan, melt the butter and stir in the honey.
2. Add the remaining ingredients except the wha=eat germ and raisins and bake the mixture at 350 oven for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in wheat germ, if desired, and bake another ten minutes or until the mixture is lightly browned.
3. Remove the granola, stir in the raisins and let cool completely before transferring to a storage container. 

Banana Cream Pie

So, today marks an important day for exactly two reasons.

1. the first pie of Pie in the Sky!

2. It's my dad's 59th birthday.

...oh yeah. and I've never had banana cream pie in my entire life, which also makes today fairly important because that is what I get to look forward to tonight. Apparently (I never knew this), banana cream pie is my dad's favorite dessert of all time, so I decided to indulge him and make it.

So, for the recipe, I turned to the my default, dear old Martha. It was very complicated. In fact, I never even knew that pie could be so complicated. Make the crust. Chill the crust. Roll the crust. Chill the crust again, and so on and so forth for about three more hours. Now, I'm sure Martha will prove herself and this pie will be absolutely amazing. It better be after how long I spent on it. Have a lovely rest of your Sunday.

Olive Bread

  
      My sister has this odd thing for olives and bread. Not olive bread but an actual olive on top of bread eaten simultaneously. It wasn't until we went to New York recently that she realized that there was such a thing as olives in bread. We must have had it like 10 times in the bread baskets at various restaurants and to my sister, who is easily pleased, it was a revelation. I like it well enough but if given the choice, I'd rather stick to my good ole baguette. Plain and simple. and delicious.

      Oddly, I was feeling charitable on Sunday, so I decided to indulge Becky and make her homemade olive bread. I am by no means an expert at making bread, so this was a new adventure. I was originally planning to make it from a recipe from Panera Bread's website, but then right as I was making the starter, I realized that I probably didn't have enough honey. So, I looked in the cupboard and saw, a tiny little bottle of honey. It was, just my luck, crystalized, so I put it in the microwave for a few seconds. I opened the microwave door only to find that it had spread all over. Great. Wonderful. Awesome.

      So, Plan B. I found another recipe that used basically the same things minus the honey and the shortening, which I found out later we didn't have anyway. It was supposed to make two loaves which turned out too small, so I made one night loaf. It was oddly hard to knead so I didn't do it for as long as recommended but it turned out alright. Becky enjoyed it anyway.

Starter: 

• 1 cup warm water (95-105° F)
• 1 tablespoon  yeast
• 1 cup flour

Let set at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Bread:

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons olive brine, warmed
• 4 teaspoons yeast
• 4 – 5 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons of salt
•  Starter
•  3/4 cups  kalamata olives, pitted

To create the starter,combine the water and yeast in a medium mixing bowl. Stir to dissolve the yeast. Add the flour to the bowl and stir.  Cover with a cloth and ferment the starter at room temperature for 30 minutes.
For the dough, combine the water and yeast. Stir to dissolve the yeast fully. Add the  flour, salt,  brine, starter, and olives. Mix on low speed (if using a mixer) until the dough is fully developed.  Knead for 15 minutes if kneading by hand. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl.

You can let the dough rise for an hour or so to develop the flavor or go on to the next step.

Divide the dough into 2 pieces  Roll each piece of dough into a boule, or a baguette. Place the dough on the counter and cover with a warm, damp cloth. Let rise for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425° F.

Form the dough into loaves and place them on the counter. Cover the loaves with a warm, damp cloth and proof at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Score the loaves with a sharp knife, spray with water, and bake for 30 minutes, until the crusts are a deep golden brown. Just as you put the loaves in the oven pour about 1.4 cup of water on the floor of the oven to create steam.  Keep door closed.

Remove the bread from the oven and cool for at least 30 minutes, or as long as you can wait.

2 Loaves

(c)2008  Marye Audet for Baking Delights 

Happy New Year!

I was never one to make resolutions. I never actually get around to fulfilling them and always around the time of year when I am supposed to be making new ones, I remember the old ones. Well, c'est la vie. This year, I have yet again come up with some resolutions to attempt at:
          1) Stand up straight. (I have major problems with this-everyone always thinks that my identical twin              sister is taller than me, when, in fact, I just don't stand up straight)
          2) Take control of my life. 2010 seems like the right year to become more independent and stop relying on my mother's wallet. In fact, I have already found something to strive for. There is this program at Barnard College in NYC over the summer for juniors and seniors that I really really really really want to go to. So, that automatically means that I have to start planning fundraising. This just screams BAKE SALE!
Now, I just have to find the time. With musical here and the application due in May, I hardly have time to do my homework, not to mention baking. We'll see how that goes. In the meantime, enjoy you're winter!