that's what she baked.

Mamma’s Bread

I don’t have the recipe that we followed but we made the dough the night before that involved a combination of yeast, flour, sugar and eggs… maybe? I can’t remember. And then we let the dough rise in the fridge overnight.

I then woke up way too early on a Saturday, and found my mother in the kitchen rolling out the first loaf of bread. We spooned out melted butter and cinnamon and sugar, and then added crushed walnuts and dates. After that the dough was ready to be rolled up, sliced and then put in the oven (off) to rise for another couple of hours.

We turned the oven on at the beginning of our family brunch and both my mom and I forgot about it. One of the loaves got a little too much lovin’ from the oven. And we forgot the egg-wash and left out the almond flavored sugar glaze… and it was all very typical to the baking experience that started with a floury mess. But all was well. I’m really glad I got to share that time with my mom. I also got some of her old cookie recipes that I can’t wait to try out. I did get to enjoy my Mamma’s Bread for the following week as breakfast, snack and dessert. 

A couple of weekends ago, I visited Fornax Bread Company with Tyler (pictured, laughing so hard he’s crying because I’m so damn funny, on the bottom). Tyler recently met Kimberly, one of the owner’s of Fornax, at jury duty and told her about me and she told him that we both should stop by. Sadly, we missed Kimberly, but I still very much enjoyed the visit. The staff was funny and friendly, I enjoyed my treats, and I really loved the aesthetic of the place. There was a big window into the bakery, which I thought was pretty neat. Fornax seems like the kind of place that I would want to have, if I had my own bakery. sigh. Someday.

From the about page on the website:

Named after the Roman goddess of the ovens and Artisan Bread Bakers, Fornax Bread Company has been providing the community of Roslindale Village with handcrafted breakfast pastries, delicious cookies, hearty breads, sandwiches, homemade soups and salads for ten years. Family owned and operated our passion is to make fresh baked treats from scratch using wholesome ingredients just like your grandmother would bake.

They also sell bread, whole-sale. You can find some of their breads at some of the smaller groceries stores in Jamaica Plain. 

Leap Day Baking: Banana Pecan Chocolate Chip Bread

I followed a recipe from my Moosewood cookbook that I’ve used before. I really like it, but I didn’t have all the ingredients. I skipped a couple of things (orange zest) and switched a couple of things (chai tea for coffee) and added a couple of things (chocolate chips and pecans) and it turned out quite fine. I brought a loaf and a half to the teachers room on Thursday and the tupperware was sitting on my desk empty, before the day was over. The middle of the bread took a really long time to bake, which I wasn’t happy about, but I brought my camera to Whisk, as I normally do, and was showing Phil (the guy I’m interning under) and he recommended making the batter thinner, and baking about 25 degrees lower (to more evenly bake the bread) for a longer period of time. I’ve had the problem of crust that’s too thick before, when I made cake, but I think I might be able to better tackle it next time. 

I had a great helper in my kitchen for all of my Thanksgiving baking, who willingly put on the typical “baking uniform” of an apron and bow (or bandana) that I always wear. My beau (or is it beaux?) took on making cornbread croutons by himself. I had cornbread croutons at a restaurant over the summer with my mother and she requested that I figure out how to make it. Thanks to the boy, they were so delicious. He used a box mix for the cornbread (Jiffy.. even though, it’s not vegetarian, but it is the best) and then the next day chopped it up into squares and then played with brushing butter and spices and baking them, moving them around and repeating. 

Even more from baking class, week 3. Like I mentioned before, my bread was proofing (rising… I’m sure I’m not using these words correctly..) pretty early, since not a lot goes into french bread. I had extra time to make scallion and goat cheese biscuits, that were just delish to snack on while all our breads were rising. 

I got a little embarrassed because I didn’t know what scallions looked like, and because I’m not much of a cook.. well, I was pretty much like “are these scallions, and if so, how do I cut them?” I think the chef (teacher) found it amusing. 

More from baking class, week 3.

I chose to make french bread. While I rarely purchase french bread, nobody else volunteered to make it, so I figured why not?! It was probably the most simple of the rise breads we were given recipes for, but I still thought it would be a good way to understand some of the basics of bread making. Also, because I didn’t have a lot of prep to do, I had time to make biscuits.