Shhhh! As I write this, I’m hiding out in the bedroom, with the A/C, while sheers (with the new building completed across the lane, we needed some light-preserving privacy) and a blackout blind are being installed in other rooms. Drilling into cement creates an unfriendly sound.
My hiding-out excuse (the woman who’s doing our drapes would really love to chat!) is that I’m packing for a few days on the island, visiting friends — and between the noise and the getaway planning, my blogging time is very limited this morning. . .
So I’m offering up yesterday’s page from my Illustrated Journal — and advising you of my resolution to learn how to draw and paint (here, I used the watercolour pencils) a loaf of bread!! I can bake the bread well enough. . .
This is the latest batch, and there are several other (prettier!) examples of my Fermented Sourdough Bread inthis post, in which I also wander through my personal and familial bread-baking history. . .
But right now, I’m stymied about how to mix the right colours and to capture the texture and details of the crust’s surface, never mind trying to sketch the interior. . . Still, I think it’s only fair to show you my less successful efforts as well as the sketchesI’m happy with, especially since I continue to reiterate that Process is as important as Product . . .
So with no further ado, I’ll transcribe the text on that journal page:
Left-hand page, top right: Luckily, it’s cooled down enough that the 500degree oven wasn’t intolerable.
Top left: I built the dough for these loaves on Friday, when it was warm enough still that I wasn’t sure how to manage the first phase of the fermentation. But I’ve had a slice (the heel, deliciously crunchy), and I’m calling these successful.
Bottom right: Silicon Oven Gloves. . . Huge! Awkward! & Life Savers
Right-hand page: Given that the recipe calls for this Dutch oven to warm up for an hour (!) in a 500F [Note: the oven reaches 500 before the hour begins] oven before the dough goes in, this is a very hot, potentially dangerous baking project & I’m so glad I bought that pair of silicon gloves.
The trickiest part is when I first take the very hot Dutch oven out of the oven, remove the super-hot lid, and drop the loaf in as gently and carefully as possible, replacing the lid and popping the heavy pot back in the oven — Stand Back!
20 minutes later, it’s relatively easy to reach in and grab the lid off — 10 more minutes at 465, and I have the satisfaction of pulling the pot out and lifting the golden loaf onto a cooling rack.
Mmmmm. . .
Soon I’ll leave my guy behind here in the city where the temperatures have settled at a comfortable 23 to 25 degrees (although there’s an Air Quality Advisory due to drifting smoke from the province’s forest fires). I’ve just checked the weather for the island I’m heading to, and apparently it will be 27 to 30 degrees, with even more smoke, from even closer fires, so I didn’t time that well, did I? But I’m looking forward to visits with a number of good friends, perhaps even an ocean swim. . .
bye for now,
looking forward to reading your comments,
xo,
f
Looking forward to seeing how you solve the problem of capturing the texture of that loaf in your sketch – and I'm sure you will! Silicon gloves are indeed a lifesafer but I really need a pair that goes up to my elbows at least, preferably my shoulders! I just have to look at a hot oven to get a little burn mark somewhere on my arm!
Have a wonderful, relaxing trip to the island, even if it is hot and hazy.
Frances in Sidney
Thanks, F. I'm enjoying my time on the island, but oh my, this weather! (These gloves go almost to mid-arm — any more and I'm not sure I could handle the weight!
That bread looks professional! Bravo!
We used to buy bread from a little bakery in the next village. It was on a tiny lane barely big enough for a car to pass–you had to know it was there. And it was always crowded. The pain de campagne would come out around 8, and there would be a line. The baker's wife handled it with big oven mitts, because it was sold hot from the wood-fired oven. The car windows would be steamed up by the time I got home, and sometimes we would eat the entire loaf in one sitting–hard to resist when the butter melts right in. Sadly, the bakers retired and their old shop is empty.
Wonderful description — I can just picture that bakery, and how sad that it's now closed. There are fewer and fewer of such bakeries now . . . the lifestyle is demanding and too many consumers want convenience and prioritize competitive pricing. . .
I am awed at your progress in sketching. At the same time, I find it very encouraging to watch, as it shows how much can be learned and acquired by keeping at it.
I wish you a wonderful time on your island. Enjoy your swim in the ocean.
Absolutely the right response — I do believe I'm made progress, but it's happened through having some good instruction and then just practicing — and accepting the less effective results along with the ones I really like. I suspect you'll find the same thing.
Oh, man, I so want a piece of that gorgeous bread! It looks so delicious. That is quite a baking process. Must admit, I only have to get near an over to get burned so appreciate your love of the silicone oven mitts.
I can also appreciate you hiding away in the cool bedroom so as to not get caught with a "chatty Cathy". Good thing to have the excuse of packing for your trip to the island. And even though it will be warm on the island, at least you will be able to walk out into the water and take a cooling dip. Aaahhh. Enjoy!
I must admit the bread really is tasty — interesting to begin to notice the different subtleties that depend on length of fermentation and humidity and varying the proportions of white to whole wheat flour, etc.
YOU and your journal are one of the reasons that I have returned to my watercolors. Thank you for sharing and correctly stating that it is the process, not product! 🙂
Brought out notes/photos from Espediallac and wondered that A.Watts was brave enough to take me on! If you see her, please say HI and give a hug! I hope to get back to another of her classes…in BC or France!
Charlene H
I will pass your greetings on to Alison! I loved the watercolours you posted recently — it's a satisfying process (once you get the materials out and set up space and time for yourself).
Oh your bread looks so wonderful. I rarely eat bread anymore, but every now and then, if think I will try my hand at bread baking again and I sigh. Perhaps when I am back in my house. In the meantime I imagine I can see the steam, and soak up the aroma of that freshly baked bread as I dream of baking and perhaps even eventually attempting some drawing or watercolors.
Thank you for always inspiring me.
I don't eat much bread either, although not because I have to avoid gluten, as I believe you do. But I enjoy the process so much and I'm fascinated with being able to "grow" my own yeast and learning about the way that it makes the bread more digestible through that longer fermentation — science in the kitchen!