January 22, 2011

the Artisan in me

I've always been somewhat of an Artisan bread enthusiast...
The crustier, the chewier, the better - kind of perspective.


I've never had any problem with making an Artisan loaf 
from scratch - I just love bread making - but...
sometimes time is of an essence.

Actually, time is usually of an essence...


So, when a friend told me about the book
"Artisan Bread in Five minutes a Day"
it was great cause for rejoicing.


I looked it up on Amazon,
paid for it with Swagbucks;
and have been rather happy ever since.

It literally takes no effort whatsoever,
and yet the bread is turning out better than the more complicated
doughs; (that took literal days...).

I love the way it crackles when it comes out of the oven.

I don't love the way our smoke detector goes off every time I 
make it... (You yourself can see it isn't at all burnt...)

I guess it just knows good bread when it detects it.

Soup and Bread. 
Mmm.



12 comments:

Shelby Courtney said...

Ooo, that looks so good! It is amazing how pretty food can be. :)
How does Swagbucks work?

Madeline Elizabeth said...

Oh wow, that looks delicious!

Kate said...

Thanks! :) Swagbucks is kind of interesting Shelby... Basically, you sign up - and then use different tools through their site (mainly their search engine, similar to Google) and they reward you "Swagbucks" in exchange - which can be used to redeem Amazon giftcards and other things... I do know that they are tracking people based on what I search etc... But they are a legit/safe site...depending on how you and your family feels about profiling... ;) I think we have redeemed about 35.00 worth of purchases off of Amazon so far... Pretty great! You can go to Swagbucks.com to check it out. If you do ever decide to sign up - I'd love it if you could do it through the link I provided in this post (the word Swagbucks), because referrals help me out too. :D

Cassia said...

Looks yummy! :)
I like having fresh bread with butter! :)

Our smoke alarm goes off while were cooking too! :) It's usually when something overflows and burns in the oven. :)

This past week I had fun making french bread and bagels. I've made both before but it's been awhile.
Today when I was making cinnamon raisin bagels, I forgot to put the raisins in untill it was to late.:(
But they still turned out tasty! :)

Enjoyed the post!

~Cassia :)

Kate said...

Thanks Cassia! That's funny about your smoke alarm too! I think the main problem with ours is that it notices steam - and this bread calls for a pan of steaming water in the oven... So when I have it at 450 degrees and steaming, all it takes is opening the oven door for a peek to have the alarms blaring... :) (and we don't even notice the steam escaping...)
Bagels, yum! I've always wanted to try making those sometime!

Shelby Courtney said...

Thanks Kate! I already signed up. And I think I did it through your link. At least I hope I did. :)

Anna Olivia said...

How LOVELY! I love baking bread!~

Amanda said...

Yummmm!!! Will you share a recipe?? =D

Christianna said...

Kate, I'll have to check out Swagbucks too! I really enjoy making bread, and have tried different artisan breads-but they don't seem to come out as nice looking as this one. Have you tried whole wheat loaves? This really looks good; makes me hungry for it! =)

Kate said...

Actually Christianna - my friend that shared this with me did use a percentage of whole wheat, and it still turns out delicious - so yes it can be done. I know that the authors have another book called Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day that has better recipes health-wise.

Tarissa said...

Yum, that bread looks delicious! I would love to taste some right about now.

By the way, Swagbucks is great... I've been on there for almost a year now and we love getting free items from Amazon because of it (especially buying free BOOKS!)

Laura said...

Dear Miss Kate,

Just stopped by for a visit...your little lambs are so adorable! Makes me want to add sheep to our little farm...perhaps someday.

I saw this same recipe in "Mother Earth News" and tried it. It is so delicious and so easy to make!

Have a blessed week,
Mrs. Laura