Us elderly people need to take precautions during this prolonged spell of hot weather. One thing we have to take care of is our liquid intake – how to maintain a gentle level of alcohol without becoming too arseholed to get the parasol up. The answer? Sangria – not the brandy laden rocket fuel of […]

On the way down to Mair’s Bakehouse with Jay and Rob Butters for this year’s Bethesdabakin’ weekend, we called in at Felin Ganol to pick up flour. Felin Ganol is one of the few remaining water mills In Wales and is run by Anne & Andrew Parry. Even though the water was very low in […]

To begin at the finish: Rick prepares the order for his last bake in that fantastic Alan Scott oven. For ten years he and Maggie have been banging out fine breads and pasties at Mair’s Bakehouse and taking them to market. Either that or he’s doing his Arfer Brown imitation, “Fire!!!” …

This is the etc. No need for Panibois – French herb boxes will do (Big G used to bake mini-focacce in Camembert boxes). This is just spare dough from the Salt & Pepper Crackers from a few posts back. Then it was Sue’s birthday when we were away. Lunchtime the day before I suddenly realised […]

What was the weather like in France, Mick? Bit damp in parts although it didn’t seem to bother our neighbour, Alain, as the flood laps up to his garage door. The car is actually parked against the curb. We did wonder for a bit as the water crept up the terrace – the doorstep’s only […]

Good old campagne Salt & Pepper Crackers Black Olive Bread – a holiday tradition. Can’t ignore the amazing Olive stall at the market.

Look at this: Whole merlu (hake) off the market at Arcachon. A mere 8€ for 1.6K

End of our first week back in France. Sorry you can’t be with us but, for your entertainment I’ve put up a pdf of last year’s highlights. Go to arcabake17 on the menu and see what bakers get up to on their hols.

In just the last couple of weeks I’ve put up another seven bread formulas on the partisanbaker site: Pain Niçoise Mediaeval Barley Bread Cistercian Black Olive Bread Black Bean Bread with Herbs and Jalapeños Jamaican Easter Buns Nina’s Bread with Dark Beer Check them out. Make a contribution: paypal.me/partisanbaker Every little donation helps the site […]

One of the regular mutterings about sourdough is the length of time it takes – there’s no way you can just make bread when you fancy it. Oh, really ….? Knock up a dough at 80% hydration. It’s wet enough for you to mix with a spatula so you don’t even have to get you […]