I feel like a character in the if you give a mouse a cookie book. If you go to see the movie Julie and Julia you willbe inspired by all the food and you will want to cook. If you open your cookbook you will think back on the movie. If you stumble upon a Julia related cookbook you will buy it......
So, I went to the movie, it was inspirational to me, has me thinking about cooking through a cookbook. I found that in the week following I was drying my meat so that it would brown, I was giving mushrooms space so they would saute better.The gleaned hints worked! And so I began to dream about cooking my way through a cookbook.
On Sunday I stopped at our local perpetual yardsale/ flea market and stumbled upon Baking with Julia. I opened it and the breads drew me in, crusty and appealing, so for $3 I had the cookbook to begin my journey. For the next few days I have wandered through it dreaming of the breads that would come. I bought my first bag of rye flour only to realize later that I did not have caraway seeds and it may be important, so since I am trying to be true to Julia's honor I will wait so that I may stick close (exact) to the receipe as possible.
Then I found myself returning again and again to this picture. I was inspired to try my hand at this crusty crunchy Potato Bread. The receipe was easy to follow and I think it came out well. The smell is wafting through the house, drawing studying children down from afar. The first hungry soul offered to cut me a piece but I declined yet when I went out to take pictures I found I could not resist, and yes, it was worth the work. It is crusty yet tender.
Spritzing water in the oven does make a difference, ice cubes on the bottom of the oven did not destroy it. Maybe the stone that it was baked on also made for a crispy crust.
I think I am going back to my past endevours and will again be baking bread . Bread is a favorite of everyone in the house and I just have not found the wonderful artisian breads that we came to love from the bakeries in NY and Germany. I expect there is a location locally that has them yet I also aniticapate that they are beyond my pricepoint preference or common travel path. So I will be playing in the flour again!
So, thank you Hollywood for the inspiration to bake and my family thanks you as well for who knows what will happen if you go to see Julie and Julia!
yum.
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