Which means lots of pictures coming soon…like these from our first stop: the New River Gorge Visitor Center in West Virginia. I loved the beautiful garden
and the stunning view…
(Wish I’d gotten a better picture of it!)
Jane’s favorite part was the science mystery game inside the center
but what the younger girls liked best was the big mound of dirt in the parking lot.
Of course!
I knew I could count on you guys! The comments section of yesterday’s post is filling up with wonderful bread recipes, and a few of you have emailed me recipes as well. Thank you!
Now, let’s talk equipment. Not mixers with dough hooks— although, what the heck, go ahead and recommend your favorites while you’re at it, and then I just might know what hints to drop my husband for Christmas. But right now I want to know about loaf pans and kneading surfaces. We have one battered old nonstick loaf pan I use for meatloaf and packaged quickbreads. (It works just fine for that yummy beer bread my friend Lisa mentioned in the comments. I do love that stuff! And no, I don’t make any money off my frequent Tastefully Simple endorsements—I am just a big fan.)
My friend Joann recommended this pan de mie, which bakes loaves shaped like storebought sandwich bread. Very cool. Sounds like something else to hint for come Christmastime…
But I have learned that I should not invest money in supplies for any hobby or endeavor TOO SOON. I have to try this out for a while to see if we (all right, Jane) are going to stick with it. So will my one old loaf pan serve us all right? For now? And when/if we do decide to invest in more pans (since Becky points out that you never want to make just one loaf at a time), which ones do you like, O wise and experienced bakers of bread?
Also, will a big wooden cutting board work as a kneading surface? My kitchen table is kind of rickety (it is a treasured hand-me-down from my dear Aunt Genia—given to me when I was in college, yikes!) and I can’t imagine it standing up to much pounding and pushing. The countertops in my kitchen here are some kind of tile—beautiful but bumpy. I use a plastic cutting board for chopping veggies, but I found a nice wooden 10×16" one during the unpacking. Would that work? Wow, am I clueless. I told you so. Go ahead, someone ask me a question about Charlotte Mason or, say, the domestic practices of late 18th-century Scotland, quick!