Ann_T

@RWood, I love the idea of the mixed olives. Beautiful loaves.

Grilled Moe one of those small top sirloin cap steaks for breakfast and instead of eggs he had twice fried fries, and sautéed mushrooms.

I started a sourdough after work on Friday. Used one of the small starters (95g) with 800g of flour at 68% hydration. Left if out on the counter overnight for a room temperature bulk fermentation. I had intended to bake Saturday morning, but decided it could wait since the dough was slow rising. So I put the dough in the fridge for a cold fermentation. Took the dough out of the fridge last night at 8:00 PM and left it on the counter until 3:00 AM this morning. So basically three fermentations over about 36 hours, 2 at room temperature and one at cold. Baked two batards this morning. One baked under the Netherton Foundry Spun Iron Cloche and the other in a Romertopf Clay Roaster.

I find it very annoying that after Christmas you can't find Cranberry and White chocolate shortbread cookies, or at least not the ones made by a local bakery and carried in a number of grocery stores. They taste homemade. It is almost like someone made a rule that shortbread is only served during the Christmas holiday period. So I had no choice but to bake a batch this morning. My idea of breakfast. Cranberries and Callebaut white chocolate, chopped into chunks. Moe just told me these are better than the ones I was missing.

Today's bake. 9 mini baguettes. Started a sourdough last night and left it on the counter until 3:00 AM this morning. I used one of the mini "scapings" in the jar starters. I fed what was left in the jar again and left it on the counter overnight as well and it had more than doubled overnight. I started another dough this morning for Matt, for pizza and fed another jar of scrapings. Will have two starters that will get used in two batches of dough tonight. One will get left out to bake in the morning and the other will go into the fridge for a longer cold fermentation.

Tonight's dinner - Steak and Frites. Picked up two more of the Sterling Silver Top Sirloin cap steaks. The flavour is so good and the steaks very tender. Cooked on the grill and served with a wine sauce with twice fried "shoestring French fries".

I decided to bake something I haven't baked in probably 6 or 7 years - my Caramelized Onion and Poppy Seed baguettes. Started the dough with one of the small sourdough starters with the addition of yeast, for a same day bake. The initial mix After the 1st stretch and fold. Dough had three more stretch and folds before being left on the counter in a covered container for a room temperature bulk fermentation. Last batard was out of the oven by 3:30. After dinner tonight, Moe had a slice buttered.

Baked four smaller baguettes with poppy seeds yesterday morning. I normally don't eat breakfast, but I sliced one of the small baguettes horizontally, toasted and topped with fried ham and tomato. Moe had toasted sourdough, with fried ham and buttered basted eggs for his breakfast.

Moe's breakfast. Grilled top sirloin cap (Picanha) steak with scrambled eggs and toasted sourdough.

First dinner of 2026. Lamb shanks with polenta.

Thanks Nancy. But I should tell you that they really aren't difficult to make. Just a little time consuming. But you can also cut down on the time if you make larger bagels. I just happen to really like the cocktail size. If you are interested I have posted the recipe often on the blog, including this post with a pictorial. I updated it a while ago with metric measurements. https://thibeaultstable.com/2009/07/07/pictorial-how-to-make-bagels/

@Duvel HAPPY NEW YEAR!!. What a way to bring in the New Year with that amazing feast. At some point will you please share your recipe the for the Karaage. We kept it simple with just the smoked salmon with homemade bagels. Served with a bottle of a 2022 Blanc de Blanc Brut from Fort Berens Estate Winery.

@sartoric I reposted the recipe on my blog. You can find it here: https://thibeaultstable.com/2025/12/30/freds-italian-chicken/

Decided that tonight we were going to keep it simple. So I decided I would bake bagels, mostly cocktail size and Moe and I would have smoked salmon and cream cheese, with the typical garnishes for New Year's Eve. Most were topped with poppy seeds, because that is what I prefer and Moe and Matt are good with whatever I top them. But I also did some bigger size with dried onions, poppy seeds and sesame seeds per a request from Matt. I've been making this bagel recipe since 1981. Today's bake was a sourdough version. They freeze well.

Baked a couple of sourdough batards this morning and sliced one for breakfast. I still had a chicken breast leftover from last night's dinner so I made Moe a toasted chicken sandwich for breakfast. The best reason to bake bread is for toast.