Oh, Rooseter and Denise, that reminds me. I remember reading this post and being intrigued. It’s also on Food52 and the King Arthur site. Please post back whatever you end up doing!
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Very nice!
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Oh gosh - good luck! Keep us all posted!
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Is your shop opens now? Must be a very tough time. Do you have a website to sell?
I don’t have a retail shop, I only open the kitchen for the monthly Art Walk (which is of course canceled) and order pick-up. I do have a website (link in profile) and have gotten some good orders but my handful of retail outlets are closed plus pop-up markets and catered events are all canceled until further notice (my other sources of income). A private chef friend and I are trying to figure out some meal delivery, especially since our stay home order was just extended to May 4.
I live alone and work alone so am allowed to continue, and ‘artisan food producers’ are on the essential list. It will definitely be a down year, I’m just hoping there is still some summer catering and that the winter holidays are relatively normal.
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Sounds good! Hope the delivery will work well.
Maybe think of an e-shop eventually, quite easy to set up these days. Your chocolate is lovely, will be great to be able to buy online!
Here, there are some talk about the virus will be around till July! No idea actually that this thing will return in fall or winter end of the year, probably people is better prepared, and with more tests and masks, no need for general confinement for everybody but just the sick. Hopefully medicine or vaccination will arrive soon. (But I heard vaccination will arrived in the fall of 2021).
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Got a sample of this in the mail, so my wife made bread: https://redstaryeast.com/red-star-platinum-instant-sourdough-yeast/. She had a sourdough starter years ago when we lived in NYC, but she hasn’t had the time to get one up and running here. The dough rose very well, and despite our terrible, unevenly heated oven, it came out nice. It’s not like a regular loaf made with a sourdough starter–the crumb is tight and soft, the crust is also on the softer side, and there’s no “sour” flavor. Definitely a yeast loaf, but that’s not a bad thing. My wife made a smaller loaf to give to a friend in exchange for homemade butter.
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My turn to bake today. Cast iron skillet cornbread with cheddar cheese and diced green chilis. The peppers were sauteed in butter before adding to make sure they would be fully cooked. While some bites were more spicy than others, overall I am satisfied that it was not overpowering. When served with butter and strawberry preserves, there was a wonderful combination of sweet and spicy. I don’t think I’ve ever been 100% happy with something I’ve baked myself until now.
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Baking isn’t my thing, but I baked up some cookies, roughly inspired by the whole wheat ones from Manresa Bread. I’m pretty happy with the first take. Once I can get my hands on some nicer chocolate that I can hand chop, I’ll have another go at it.
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The destination of my bread adventure took a turn to the pane integrale recipe in Marcella Hazan’s “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.”
While I originally planned to bake her olive oil bread, I didn’t have enough plain unbleached white flour on its own and needed to augment with whole wheat.
I ended up with a hearty loaf that will keep on giving this week, though the crust came out disappointingly pale. I think it’s because this was the first loaf of bread I ever baked in an electric oven. (We had a gas oven when I used this recipe years ago.) Maybe a milk wash on the loaf would’ve been better than the recommended brushing with water? Dunno.
That said, we’re pleased with the crumb. The crust, while not super crisp, has a pleasant chew.
Pic of the pale loaf follows. Also a pic of our stay-at-home cheese and salad dinner. Then slices of the bread worked beautifully.
Earlier in the day, I had toasted thick slices of this bread and slathered it with super rich, thick Greek yogurt which I topped with a drizzle of local honey and toasted walnuts.
Breakfast and dinner, with more meals ahead!
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Your first loaf looked much better than my first loaf, mine was dried and hard! And the second loaf is always better than the first loaf! 
What was the temperature you have used for the bread? Have you tested the temperature of your oven?
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The recipe calls for starting the loaf in a 450F/230C oven, then turning down to 375F/190C after 12 minutes. I had to start at 420F because I had parchment paper that would burn otherwise—no cornmeal in the house to keep the loaf from sticking to the baking stone.
I baked a few non-bread items in this convection oven at Christmas, and they did brown. Those items had some sort of sugar in the dough or an egg wash, so that’s why I’m wondering if a milk wash might be the answer.
I I haven’t tested the oven temp for awhile. Good thought. 
I think a high oven temperature and bread browning is related, especially the starting with a very hot oven. Is parchment paper necessary? I used spray in my cast iron pot. You’ve a pizza stone right? I think flour is enough.
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Forgot to take pic, but made brownies Friday night. Only an 8 x 8 pan, but won’t tell you how long they lasted, and only 2 of us. Very dangerous to have in the house. My appetite has most fully recovered, to say the least…
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Very much! I slow down baking after seeing myself fattening fast during confinement. 
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You and me, both.
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BF made pretzels today from scratch. I have no patience for dough, so I helped with the twisting…and eating…
Absolutely delicious. Best pretzels I’ve ever had, especially warm and buttered.
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Holy cow - those are stunning!
Did you boil them first or just bake? And is that an egg wash or?
(You can tell, those look so good, now I want to make them! And eat them ; )
