Variety is the Spice of Life Event 2012 - Main Thread

[Event Host]

CarrolJ wrote:
CarrolJ #137302

has made, tasted, and reviewed

Artisan Basic French Bread and Variations (Overnight) #472439

I debated about how many stars I should give this bread. I debated about not giving any stars like my bread baking pals, Bonnie and Galley Wench. But then I thought. Would I recommend this bread for others? Would I consider making this recipe again? Did the results taste good? The answers were No! Therefore in respect to the other wonderful recipes out there I gave it 3 stars. (I don't like dishing any chef so I didn't give less stars but explained why in the review instead.)

This is the review I wrote:

On the first long (12 hour) rise it rose like crazy and I was concerned about it rising over the large bowl I put it into. However after I shaped the dough for the second rise it took all day to get risen enough to bake. The biggest problem was the same as Galley Wench mentioned. It has too much salt. You can actually taste the salt. I make a lot of bread. I enjoy making bread. My suggestion would be to cut the amount of salt down to about half what is listed in the recipe or add a Tablespoon or so of sugar to balance out the salt. A increase in the amount of yeast should improve on the rise.. I used 1 1/4 cup of wheat bread instead of all white flour as the chef suggested, and the variation I used was 1/3 cup oatmeal and 1/4 cup potato flakes. Made for Variety Is The Spice Of Life game Spring 2012.

Initially your completion was overlooked, but it is now marked as complete!

K-U-W

[Kerfuffle-Upon-Wincle]

I just looked at my refrigerated bread dough ~ it hasn't risen ANY since I put it in the fridge at 5PM yesterday! Because I have such long hours away from home Monday-Wednesday, it may have to stay in there til Thursday if it doesn't rise soon!

[Event Host]

I'm taking off my host hat now ~ someone else will be along later to chat!

K-U-W

[Event Host]

Kerfuffle-Upon-Wincle wrote:
I just looked at my refrigerated bread dough ~ it hasn't risen ANY since I put it in the fridge at 5PM yesterday! Because I have such long hours away from home Monday-Wednesday, it may have to stay in there til Thursday if it doesn't rise soon!

That is so weird. Its so goofy how the reviews can be so different, from working perfectly to not working at all. It must be the yeast. My daughter and I had the very same thing happen with a bread recipe for foccacia bread that i make often with perfect results. However when she made it, it would be a total disaster. So after I ordered her some yeast from King Arthur Flour, her bread started coming out perfect too.

[Kerfuffle-Upon-Wincle]

Event Host wrote:

Kerfuffle-Upon-Wincle wrote:
I just looked at my refrigerated bread dough ~ it hasn't risen ANY since I put it in the fridge at 5PM yesterday! Because I have such long hours away from home Monday-Wednesday, it may have to stay in there til Thursday if it doesn't rise soon!

That is so weird. Its so goofy how the reviews can be so different, from working perfectly to not working at all. It must be the yeast. My daughter and I had the very same thing happen with a bread recipe for foccacia bread that i make often with perfect results. However when she made it, it would be a total disaster. So after I ordered her some yeast from King Arthur Flour, her bread started coming out perfect too.

I used cold water and didn't proof the yeast, although I used the same packaged (same date) yeast last week and it worked without problem. I removed the dough from the ABM after it mixed for 15 minutes ~ before it heated for the first rise. Maybe I should have left it sitting on the counter awhile before I stuck it in the fridge!

My fridge is super cold and I have to be careful that I don't get produce too close to the inside edge of the crisper drawer because things freeze! Maybe I need to move the dough up to another shelf in the fridge where it might be a little warmer!

[Event Host]

Kerfuffle-Upon-Wincle wrote:

Event Host wrote:

Kerfuffle-Upon-Wincle wrote:
I just looked at my refrigerated bread dough ~ it hasn't risen ANY since I put it in the fridge at 5PM yesterday! Because I have such long hours away from home Monday-Wednesday, it may have to stay in there til Thursday if it doesn't rise soon!

That is so weird. Its so goofy how the reviews can be so different, from working perfectly to not working at all. It must be the yeast. My daughter and I had the very same thing happen with a bread recipe for foccacia bread that i make often with perfect results. However when she made it, it would be a total disaster. So after I ordered her some yeast from King Arthur Flour, her bread started coming out perfect too.

I used cold water and didn't proof the yeast, although I used the same packaged (same date) yeast last week and it worked without problem. I removed the dough from the ABM after it mixed for 15 minutes ~ before it heated for the first rise. Maybe I should have left it sitting on the counter awhile before I stuck it in the fridge!

My fridge is super cold and I have to be careful that I don't get produce too close to the inside edge of the crisper drawer because things freeze! Maybe I need to move the dough up to another shelf in the fridge where it might be a little warmer!

I have that same problem with things freezing, but its usually in the back that it happens. Well in your case, its probably not the yeast.

[Acadia*]

I just joined Pinterest ! I can't figure out how to drag the Pinning button to the tool bar on Safari on the ipad, so I will have to do that on my MAC. Meanwhile I got the App for it from the Apple App store which I am trying to figure out? LOL !

[threeovens]

If anyone's around, I'll be popping in and out!

[CarrolJ]

Event Host wrote:

CarrolJ wrote:
CarrolJ #137302

has made, tasted, and reviewed

Artisan Basic French Bread and Variations (Overnight) #472439

I debated about how many stars I should give this bread. I debated about not giving any stars like my bread baking pals, Bonnie and Galley Wench. But then I thought. Would I recommend this bread for others? Would I consider making this recipe again? Did the results taste good? The answers were No! Therefore in respect to the other wonderful recipes out there I gave it 3 stars. (I don't like dishing any chef so I didn't give less stars but explained why in the review instead.)

This is the review I wrote:

On the first long (12 hour) rise it rose like crazy and I was concerned about it rising over the large bowl I put it into. However after I shaped the dough for the second rise it took all day to get risen enough to bake. The biggest problem was the same as Galley Wench mentioned. It has too much salt. You can actually taste the salt. I make a lot of bread. I enjoy making bread. My suggestion would be to cut the amount of salt down to about half what is listed in the recipe or add a Tablespoon or so of sugar to balance out the salt. A increase in the amount of yeast should improve on the rise.. I used 1 1/4 cup of wheat bread instead of all white flour as the chef suggested, and the variation I used was 1/3 cup oatmeal and 1/4 cup potato flakes. Made for Variety Is The Spice Of Life game Spring 2012.

Initially your completion was overlooked, but it is now marked as complete!

K-U-W

Thanks so much K-U-W...I hadn't even checked to make sure it had been posted as complete. I trust you hosts! BTW what does K-U-W mean or stand for?

We had a nice Mother's Day Dinner after church this morning. Our Pastor and his sweet wife found out that we planned to go the same restaurant as they were going and they invited us to join them. (They had reservations.) The place was packed and it was a good thing we went as part of their reservation or we may have been waiting a very long time to eat.

Pastor's wife and I are best friends so I really enjoyed sharing our meal with them. It was a nice big buffet. Since I usually have problems doing buffets I just went up once. Worked great for my waistline too. After eating what I had on my plate, I was satisfied and didn't need to go for a second round.

What about the rest of you? What did you do for Mother's Day?

[threeovens]

Kerfuffle-Upon-Wincle is Laura's food name. It is some sort of inside joke with her daughter. I know kerfuffle is a British term for a commotion/disturbance/scuffle and Wincle is a Parish in East Cheshire. Maybe something to do with that. I always though a wincle was that cone-shaped hat that maidens wore in the dark ages.

[CarrolJ]

threeovens wrote:
Kerfuffle-Upon-Wincle is Laura's food name. It is some sort of inside joke with her daughter. I know kerfuffle is a British term for a commotion/disturbance/scuffle and Wincle is a Parish in East Cheshire. Maybe something to do with that. I always though a wincle was that cone-shaped hat that maidens wore in the dark ages.

I knew it was her food name...that was what I meant...I had no idea what the words meant or represented.

[threeovens]

I am sorry, Carrol. There was somebody else that did not know it was the initials of her name, so I just thought I would explain that part as well - just in case.

[Acadia*]

Oops. I see I forgt to add my "updated" to here tag line. I know I meant to do it, so I guess I had a memory malfunction.

Well we didn't go to the bonefish grill because there was 1.5 hours wait and DH never waits that long to get in a restaurant, so instead we went to Casa Carolla's and Italian eatery down the street. I had Pollo Florentina with a marinara sauce over angel hair pasta. It was very filling and yummy. But now I feel like a stuffed snake. Ate way too much, and I didn't even eat even half of it, more like 1/3 of it.

[threeovens]

Sounds like everyone' s having/had a lovely Mothers' Day.

[CarrolJ]

threeovens wrote:
I am sorry, Carrol. There was somebody else that did not know it was the initials of her name, so I just thought I would explain that part as well - just in case.

nothing to be sorry about....who knows your explanation of the words may even be correct. It will be interesting to hear back from her and find out.