The remaining dough from the Fig & Serrano batch after having been in the fridge for a further 24 hours. I’m doing this to wind up my friend Rick. On his website Mairs Bakehouse he says this: “We never use refrigeration to elongate our bread making process. This method we feel only increases the ‘sour’ […]

We don’t seem to treat holidays like other people. For a start off we don’t regard them as holidays: they are periods of time when you live somewhere else, get all the crap out of your head and try to regain your sanity – and possibly a little creative energy. For us France is a […]

Second bread – same dough:That’s a bit miraculous. After I removed enough dough for the pizzas the remainder went back in the fridge for another 24 hours. Late yesterday afternoon it came out of the fridge had a rough-and-ready shape and was in the oven ten minutes later. It actually rose: And, for your in […]

And the first bread out of the oven is …….. pizza!! Ran up some 80% hydration dough using T65 flour and wacked it in the fridge for a couple of days. Another year, another oven – a second nasty little microwave/convection oven. So, trying to improve on last year’s efforts I did the bases in […]

Here we are back in our French hideaway for four weeks trying to regain a bit of sanity and R&R. Arrived late Saturday afternoon in time to buy a bit of pasta to get through to Sunday which is … Market Day!! Well Arcachon has a market every day except Monday but M. Brion only […]

Some of you will remember Nils Schoener and his curiously named  ye olde bread blog which sadly hasn’t been updated for about four years. He very generously used to post his bread recipes there and I used to steal them and to learn about rye from him. But, as a minor piece of compensation, I […]

Stig, long time baker from the start of Bethesdabakin’, was in touch to say that her daughter, Eve, had a part in the BBC’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover broadcast last Sunday. Eve seems to be on the way to being a successful actor – she is also in Ibsen’s Little Eyolf at London’s Almeida Theatre from […]

Look at this then: Pain de Campagne you say. Seen it before. So what … This weekend was my Mom’s 94th birthday so Sue and I went to celebrate with her. Saturday morning refreshed my starter and  put it in the fridge – normally it lives on the countertop. Had two days trying to keep […]

It always happens to me. I start off with good intentions and take a load of photographs before everyone arrives. Then Jay says do you want to try this year’s cider and it’s down hill to Monday morning. But I can vaguely remember it being one of the most pleasant and relaxed baking weekends we […]