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"Baking With Julia" by Julia Child (2004)


SethG

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Sethg, I just went back and saw that you posted a pic of your cookies too. Very pretty. Even if it was tedious for you, the effort looks beautiful. Did I tell you guys that people at work dubbed them "kisses"? (You know, like XOXO on the bottom of a letter?) I thought that was rather cute!

A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness. – Elsa Schiaparelli, 1890-1973, Italian Designer

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My in-laws came over today. Guests for two days running = cookies all gone! I'm cursing myself for only making a half batch. But I'm not about to make some more tonight.

Your photo looks great, mdt.

I think I'll make the brownies maybe Wednesday.

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

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Next: mixed starter bread, page 113?

What do you guys think? Rhea, would this cut you out, since you just made the walnut bread?

Other ideas: Bagels, p. 87; Eastern European Rye, p. 98; or Finnish Pulla, p. 106.

Or something else.

Edit: By the way, on Rhea's recommendation, I picked up Paris Sweets. Gotta support Dorie! I haven't had a chance to really look at it, and there's a multitude of desserts we haven't tried in BWJ, but if any others have the book, we might think about doing some stuff from there too, eventually.

Edited by SethG (log)

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

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i can recomend the walnut bread - made it this weekend you also get two pizzas as a bonus. it's a rather large loaf with a great crust, would've been better to make two small ones, but i wasn't sure about the baking time.

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Sorry to be late in responding. I stupidly lost my temper on this site yesterday and I gave myself a time out. It's bad when one gets stressed doing something that is supposed to be relaxing.

I'm in for the mixed starter bread. The Walnut Bread I tried was a Silverton recipe and I had some trouble with that one. I'd like to give another recipe a try. Here's a pic of my x-cookies. I made the full batch. I have a 12-in dumpling roller/dowel that worked perfectly for this recipe. It was a bit messy to work with the filling. These cookies taste much better on the 2nd and 3rd days.

i4161.jpg

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I made the brownies today. They are the best I've ever tasted. I'm floored.

I also made the tomato galette. Very easy. I wasn't in the mood for Monterey Jack, so I made one with goat cheese and the other with Gruyere. I sprinkled a little fresh thyme and rosemary between the cheese and the tomatoes, and right before I popped it in the oven, I thought a little brushing of olive oil couldn't hurt either. (I sound like one of those recipe user reviews on Epicurious, right? "I loved this recipe! I changed everything about it, and it was great!") The galettes looked and tasted very nice when they came out, but I forgot to snap a pic.

Edit: Sounds like a consensus for mixed starter bread.

Edited by SethG (log)

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

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I've been out of commission for a couple of weeks, but I'm having a good time catching up. Made the potato bread. Interesting dough, very soft. The breads baked off well, but I'm not sure I'm one who appreciates the potato taste. Here's what mine looked like:

i4208.jpg

Next I'm onto those brownies.

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Hey, still playing catch-up. Made the brownies yesterday. Very gooey, but the taste is fantastic. I actually put these back in the over for a while to see if they would set up any more, since the family is firmly of the "cakey-brownie" persuasion, but they are still gooey. Here's my not-so-good-looking brownie bake, showing the effects of a rush of chocoholics before I could get the camera.

i4264.jpg

So is it the mixed-starter bread?

SethG, there are so many tasty and fun looking recipes in BWJ, I vote we stick with this book for a while. After all, part of the fun is baking stuff one might not ordinarily bake, and making our way further into this terrific book seems like it might encourage that fun, yes?

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So is it the mixed-starter bread?

SethG, there are so many tasty and fun looking recipes in BWJ, I vote we stick with this book for a while. After all, part of the fun is baking stuff one might not ordinarily bake, and making our way further into this terrific book seems like it might encourage that fun, yes?

Agreed as to both.

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

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Finished the mixed starter bread this morning with my 4 year old nephew. He shaped the small one by himself and he had fun. As we were shaping I made mention to watch me and copy what I am doing. He said, "I know how to do this. I roll out playdoh all the time!" :laugh:

Had a bit of a problem getting them off the peel, but they smell wonderful.

mixedstarter.jpg

Wearing jeans to the best restaurants in town.
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The weekend has just flown by, but I did get the Pizza with Onion Confit done. The picture came out a bit dark :hmmm: Along with the confit I added black olives and fresh parmasean. It was really good. The pizza crust came out nicely. I also made some lemon bars from the Barenbaum Christmas Cookie book - yum! - highly lemony :wub:

I have squirreled away my 2 oz of dough for the Mixed Starter Bread and will try to squeeze that in in the next couple of days. Going to be in Pittsburgh next weekend so will not be able to join in on next weekend's activities.

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Okay, here's my shot at the mixed starter bread:

i4419.jpg

The 2nd baguette disappeared (before I could get my camera) in a blizzard of melting butter and Vegemite. My pathetic attempt at an epi was actually pretty funny. After making the first cut, with the oven hot and waiting, I realized I didn't have a clue how to cut the damn thing. Flipped open book to gorgeous color photo--not much help. Anyway, the bread tastes fantastic and i will definately make this again, probably soon.

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Beautiful bread everyone! I made pizza dough last night. So my bread won’t be ready until tomorrow.

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

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dahome - I enjoyed the bread and will be making it again. Now to just figure out a good schedule so that I can make this without too much hassle.

So what are we looking at for this weekend? A dessert type of item? Another bread?

Wearing jeans to the best restaurants in town.
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mdt--I'm also tryingg to figure out how to work this rising schedule. I ended up chilling my dough about 13 hours instead of the 8 (maximum) in the recipe. Didn't seem to affect it too much, tho.

How about the Berry Galette? Looks pretty yummy.

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I was wondering about what happens when you extend the chilling time myself. I am fairly new to bread baking and would love to know more. Anyone here have experience that can recommend a good resource?

The galette sounds good, but I would rather wait until fresh berries are at the farmer's market before making it. Of course if you are lucky enough to be in an area where you have fresh berries then I wish I was there! :biggrin:

Wearing jeans to the best restaurants in town.
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Thank you all for posting pictures!! This weekend I made the brownies and also the potato bread....they both turned out awesome!!

I have a question for everybody here, I don't have a food processor but want to make the croissant dough. The recipe states that I should use the food processor to mix the cold butter with the flour. Could I just use my Kitchen Aid? Or should be attempt this by hand? With cutting up the butter and mixing it with the flour?

THANKS!

Think before you drink.......I think I'll have another!
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My pathetic attempt at an epi was actually pretty funny. After making the first cut, with the oven hot and waiting, I realized I didn't have a clue how to cut the damn thing. Flipped open book to gorgeous color photo--not much help.

I've made epi before that turned out pretty well. I used the instructions from the King Arthur Flour online classes (I'm a big fan!). Here's a link:

http://ww2.kingarthurflour.com/cgibin/html...656945816665207?

I especially like that they show the right and the wrong way! :biggrin:

I had to return my copy of BWJ to the library and I'm still waiting for my Amazon copy to arrive :sad: then I'll have to catch up. However, if you decide to do the berry galette, I at least have some of the dough in the freezer from when I made the tomato cheese galette so I won't be too far behind!

A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness. – Elsa Schiaparelli, 1890-1973, Italian Designer

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mdt- I usually bake bread once or twice a week. Many recipes call for retarding the dough in the fridge "overnight" to allow the flavor to develop. For a better understanding of the yeast/lactobacillus relationship, there are detailed discussions in both The Bread Baker's Apprentice and The Bread Bible.

ChzHead-remember there were croissants long before there were cuisinarts! You can use a pastry cutter or your hands to cut the butter into the flour. You're just looking for the right texture at the end of the process.

Arbuclo-thanks for the link! It all makes sense now (I think). What a difference their detailed instructions are, and the "wrong" photos look very familiar! I'm a big fan of King Arthur also but haven't done their courses. Maybe I should take a look.

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ChzHead -- You can certainly use your KA for the croissant dough. I have made them several times and never used a food processor. I have made them by hand and using my mixer. Pick your method and have some fun!

Wearing jeans to the best restaurants in town.
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I'm getting hungry with all this bread, etc chatting! I want my book to arrive soon so I can bake!!!!

Dahomechef do you use King Arthur flour? When I lived in the US I couldn't get it unless I had it shipped to me (which seemed to expensive b/c of costs to get it to Alaska!) and now there's no chance! I wish I knew of good companies here that do flour, etc. I really do miss some of the wonderful food stuffs in the US. (Mind you, there are wonderful things here too but I want the best of both worlds! Greedy, greedy!)

Any of the rest of you use particular flour or just what ever's at the super market?

A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness. – Elsa Schiaparelli, 1890-1973, Italian Designer

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