Happiness is …

No they’re not mine. The other week an old internet friend of mine, Helen, got in touch with me. We go right back to the days of Andrew Whitley’s Bread Matters forum, about 10 years ago, but we’ve been out of touch for ages. Suddenly she pops up again having poked around the old haunts […]

A Bit of News

Well, not much really. At the moment my life seems totally taken up with baking and organising Bethesdabakin’5, the fifth of our annual baking events, which is now only two weeks away. So maybe in a couple of weeks time I will become normal again. Maybe. In the meantime here is a photo of what […]

Free Book

Get a copy of Bethesdabasics absolutely free!! The second hundred copies of Bethesdabasics came in two boxes. There are “a few” copies – say between 3-5 – in the bottom of box number one, so the last copy in the box will mark 150 copies sold. Except that whoever pays for the 150th copy will […]

Bread No. 2

The second loaf baked here in Arcachon in the tin box oven is a 2K Classic. Just a half-and-half mix of T65 Organic supermarket flour and T130 farine de blé intégral soft wheat flour. That’s a good 5-6 inches of crumb rather badly hacked about by a blunt chef’s knife (the owner has returned from […]

Pain Bonne Chance

Starter Preparation Day One: Evening mix and overnight in the fridge Day Two: Pack in case. Taxi to Bangor, train to Bath, overnight in case. Day Three: Bus to Bristol Airport, in aircraft hold to Bordeaux, taxi to Arcachon, overnight in fridge. Day Four: In fridge (on 01 May in France everything is closed, no […]

Hey Jewish People …

… laugh as you watch the lapsed Catholic boy try to make bagels. The ever resourceful Gert Jan Vos, chef/patron of Oren, Hole in the Wall Street in Caernarfon, changes his menu every week which keeps this baker well on his toes. Last week he was drawing from both the Ashkenazy and Sephardic traditions for […]

BSBI2

Second guest baker learning Bethesdabakers’ methods & systems by practical experience this week was Luke Conlon. These courses are becoming a very rewarding two-way process with me getting the benefit of the participants’ ideas, experience and view of how bread making can enrich their lifestyle, while they seem to go away feeling their plans can […]

BSBI

Fantastic occasion in the history of Bethesdabakers last week – the official launch of the Bethesda Sourdough Baking Institute. First student on the two day Microbakin’ Course, Tim Lukehurst: seen here with a Granary loaf baked on day two. Students are given the opportunity to scale up a favourite recipe and Tim chose a Tom […]

A Question from the Doctor

The great Doctor Fugawe asks: Here’s a good one for me uncle (even if he ain’t!) – and you even have some degree of responsibility for this one, since it’s your ‘Classic Sourdough Loaf’ that I used here. I’m working through your new book, doing each bread in it – so I put together Mick’s […]

Shoulder to Shoulder

I don’t know where my life went but I always meant to have more on the blog about cooking, music and other things that matter to me – you know, like cocktails. Anyway, Saturday morning, went up to the mighty city of Bangor to cash in at the bank after a heavy day’s baking, under […]