“Best bread I ever had!” enthuses Trudie, my newest customer. Well, to be honest, it’s the only bread she’s ever had: And she can’t actually speak yet. But I predict her first words will include “Micks” and “Sour” and “Dough”. Well, “Bethesdabakers Naturally Leavened Bread” is too much to expect at that age. It’s quite […]

Someone, can’t remember who, recently posted a vid of a baker demonstrating shaping a square loaf. Well I’m attracted to simple things so I had to have a go. Not sure it will catch on …

Nina’s Bread with Dark Beer & Spelt fresh from the oven 10 minutes ago. This is my original baked at the first Bethesdabakin’ weekend August 2007. Baked in Rick’s amazing, not just built in a day, but fired and churning out bread and pizza for the masses in a day, oven. Some good friendships made […]

Think it’s a bit early to plant out the rye?

I’m going to blow my own TRUMPet (just for a change!). It’s February 2017 and my photo is on display on the Bread Bakers Guild of America calendar all month. In two weeks time on the 17th I shall be 70 years of age. The microbakery is in its 10th year. We’ve had 10 years […]

My latest profile picture on Facebook got a surprising number of “likes”. Perhaps people are staring to take pity on me as I approach my 70th birthday. My amazing Mom is 95 and has lost most of her sight. It’s not at all straightforward what she can and cannot see; it’s not like seeing through […]

Because I developed my own approach to baking a lot of years ago, I often get more out of non-specialist bread books where I adapt ideas to my own methods than I do out of this year’s must-have pukka baking manual. And some bread books by famous bakers, such as Eric Kayser’s acclaimed Larousse Book […]

First up, Barry Fowler, The Hill Bakery at Kilmersdon. You need to be up early to buy Barry’s bread unless you’ve placed an order. He sells at Frome farmers market once a month and luckily we coincided with him last weekend. We got there shortly after 10.00 a.m. and he was totally sold out apart […]

Just had a couple of days in Frome where our very good friend Clive has an exhibition at Black Swan Arts. Black Swan’s website says “Ground breaking film-maker Clive Walley revisits his love of painting, producing a special suite of paintings for the Black Swan, looking at the relationship between reality, perception and what we […]

We had friends round on Saturday night for a sort-of international mash-up – sort-of tapas: piquillos stuffed with Italian manicotti filling (ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, eggs, nutmeg, parsley), pasteis de bacalhau (deep fried Portuguese salt cod & potato balls), Spanish chorizo in cider with honey and chile, potato salad, an Israeli cabbage salad with pomegranate seeds […]