Baking Again

It's been awhile since I have posted.... and baked from scratch.  But I'm getting on the saddle again and started yesterday.

This yummy Vanilla Layer Cake we easy to make and so yummy that i'm having it for breakfast.  Yes,  I ate my cake for breakfast.

I got this recipe from Martha Stewart's Cakes.  I recommend getting Martha's book and trying some recipes.

Enjoy!!

History of Bread

Grown in Mesopotamia and Egypt, wheat was likely first merely chewed. Later it was discovered that it could be pulverized and made into a paste. Set over a fire, the paste hardened into a flat bread that kept for several days. It did not take much of a leap to discover leavened (raised) bread when yeast was accidentally introduced to the paste.
Instead of waiting for fortuitous circumstances to leaven their bread, people found that they could save a piece of dough from a batch of bread to put into the next day's dough. This was the origin of sour-dough, a process still used today.
In Egypt, around 1000 BC, inquiring minds isolated yeast and were able to introduce the culture directly to their breads. Also a new strain of wheat was developed that allowed for refined white bread. This was the first truly modern bread. Up to thirty varieties of bread may have been popular in ancient Egypt.

It was also during this time that bread beer was developed. The bread was soaked in water and sweetened and the foamy liquor run off. Beer was as popular in ancient Egypt as it is in America today.

The Greeks picked up the technology for making bread from the Egyptians; from Greece the practice spread over the rest of Europe. Bread and wheat were especially important in Rome where it was thought more vital than meat. Soldiers felt slighted if they were not given their allotment. The Roman welfare state was based on the distribution of grain to people living in Rome. Later the government even baked the bread.

Through much of history, a person's social station could be discerned by the color of bread they consumed. The darker the bread, the lower the social station. This was because whiter flours were more expensive and harder for millers to adulterate with other products. Today, we have seen a reversal of this trend when darker breads are more expensive and highly prized for their taste as well as their nutritional value.

In the middle ages bread was commonly baked in the ovens of the lord of the manor for a price. It was one of the few foods that sustained the poor through the dark age.
Bread continued to be important through history as bread riots during the French Revolution attest. The famous quotation attributed to Marie Antoinette that if the poor could not get bread for their table then "let them eat cake," became a famous illustration of how royalty had become ignorant of the plight of the lower classes. Actually, Marie Antoinette never said this and was merely being slandered by her detractors.

Still thought of as the "staff of life", for centuries bread has been used in religious ceremonies. Even the lord's prayer requests of God to "Give us this day our daily bread" - meaning not merely loaves, but moral sustenance.

Today, even with the competition of a growing variety of foods, bread remains important to our diet and our psyche. It has a prominent place in at the local market, in our cupboards, and even in our language. The word "bread" is commonly used as a slang term for money. It connotes importance as when we say that some aspect of our work is "our bread and butter". In many households bread is still served with every meal.

Bread has a long history for a reason. It is a healthy and nutritious food that fills the stomach as well as the soul.

Whether it is done by hand or a machine try some of the bread recipes at this site and discover the magic that is in the very taste and smell of fresh baked bread!



Thanks, BreadInfo.

Me thinking about baking......

Baking Challenge

I have spent the last couple weeks reading through websites and blog about baking that my brain is about to explode.  There is so much out there and so much that is need to bake that you kind of get overwhelmed.  I think that just jumping in and starting on one topic is best. 

One of the best sites that I found was Pastry Chef Online.  She has sections for basic and advanced pastries, which make deciding on what to start with easy. 



After reading through the site and thinking about what would be easiest to start with I have decided that I will do a little of everything.  There is a lot out there so I'll find what I like fisrt then move onto things that require me to learn something.  Basic cakes, cookies and quick breads are things that I know how to do so those are the first to show up.

Wish me luck  :)

Chocolate!!

Took a class last night that was all about chocolate.  Whats better then making chocolate caramels, chocolate marshmallows and bon bons then eating them?!?!  We learned to make caramel, marshmallow, ganache, dipping chocolates and bon bons.  The caramels and marshmallows were dipped in the dipping chocolate ans the instructor brought strawberries to dip too.  The bon bon shells were already made for us so making them were really easy.  I'll post recipes when I'm able to type them up and more details then too.