Is it fall? Yesterday it kinda sorta not really felt like it. Cooler with some clouds somewhat obscuring the sun. Well, garsh! This is what’s called “weather”. Here is San Diego we forget about those white puffy things that accumulate in the blue yonder, since we usually don’t have them between, say, April and October. Or rain. Right now we’re at a 90-day dry spell and counting. Though it’s really longer because the “rain” 90 days ago was .03 inches. This is why I’ve started shutting off the faucet while I soap up my hands.
Last night I made Hamelman’s pain rustique. It was surprisingly easy. I made the poolish in the morning and left it out all day to ferment, did a quick mix, autolyse, and another mix, then a few folds. Second ferment was less than half an hour, hardly enough time for me to get in a game or two of Off-Road Velociraptor Safari. While baking, this bread has an incredibly sweet smell. After I brought it out, it smelled like warm popcorn. I promise to post some pictures of the crumb. It has such a different character than other breads I’ve made, and I really dig that crazy folding method! Right on, cat!
I am considering rolling out a limited-edition seasonal bread for my menu. Which means testing in the Soutowood kitchen this week. I hope Baby Harbat and my wife don’t mind trying out fall-themed breads. Since I know they both hate bread. And me.
See, drama is fun!
Last night my wife scored 200 bonus points by bringing home a fresh apple-pumpkin pie from Julian, a small mountain town an hour uphill from here. In a fit of stupidity I didn’t bring some for lunch today. That’s okay, because when I get home I’ll be all NOM NOM and Baby Harbat will go all YUM NOM and then there won’t be any pie left when my wife gets home from work.
Finally, I’m considering tuning this blog a little. For all three people who read this blog, would it be better to focus more on one subject, like bread, parenting, or Prussian diplomatic history, or just leave it as a catch-all daily journal? Or just post photos of dinosaurs having lightsaber battles? Discuss.
Writer, architect, father, husband.
I think your blog is fine the way it is. What makes you want to change it?
I'm confused; It sounds like you're saying that you're going to finish the pie that your wife was nice enough to bring you back from Julian and not leave any for her. I'm sure that's not what you meant to write…
Oh. Wait. I meant I would NOT finish the pie. Yeah, that.
Share the pie and keep the blog as is. We like the variety with updates about Baby Harbat, opinions about life and current bread experiments.
Ya. smurf.
Well, the reason I'd change is to appeal to more of a target audience. If my goal is more readers, I think it's too general now. But if my goal is to spout off and take up space on the interwebs, then I'm doing a great job!