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You are here: Home / Food & Recipes / Cooking / Crumb Structure! (Open Thread)

Crumb Structure! (Open Thread)

by Betty Cracker|  January 11, 20188:39 pm| 67 Comments

This post is in: Cooking, Domestic Politics, Food, Open Threads

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Aside from my family’s annual Drunken Aunties Cookie Night event, I didn’t used to bake very often. I’ve always loved cooking, but baking was too scientific for my taste.

But something about our present age has driven me to arm myself with flour, yeast, salt, oil, etc., to hold the darkness at bay. There’s something rational and comforting about the measuring and timing.

Is it because the fussiness of it makes sense in the chaos of a country gone mad? Or maybe it was binge-watching the Great British Bake-off that set me off?

Anyhoo, here’s some bread! Bread makes everything better, right?

Open thread.

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Previous Post: « Shithole President. Shithole Party.
Next Post: Open Thread: Running His Mouth, Over A Cliff »

Reader Interactions

67Comments

  1. 1.

    Gin & Tonic

    January 11, 2018 at 8:42 pm

    That’s a fine-looking loaf, Ms C.

  2. 2.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    January 11, 2018 at 8:43 pm

    There’s nothing like a good, crusty loaf of sourdough bread.

  3. 3.

    debbie

    January 11, 2018 at 8:45 pm

    That, and a pound of butter, please!

  4. 4.

    scav

    January 11, 2018 at 8:45 pm

    Yea Bread! I too have made loaves today. Mine were the Cooks Illustrated Nearly No-Knead ones, my easiest go-to one for daily consumption. And I’ve a rematch for houska scheduled for this weekend.

    ETA and, yes, bread makes it somewhat better. We had some of ours for dessert (with some ginger jam to really gild the lily).

  5. 5.

    Mary G

    January 11, 2018 at 8:45 pm

    Yum. What’s a good bread machine? Kneading is far beyond me now.

  6. 6.

    SteveNKY

    January 11, 2018 at 8:46 pm

    my crazy old uncle makes a great feathery light homemade bread like his mother did. leave that out long enough, send to Missouri so someone who can chuck it at that governor.

  7. 7.

    debbie

    January 11, 2018 at 8:46 pm

    Betty, have you ever watched the American version of the Great British Bake Off? Nothing but whiny, self-centered bakers. No wonder the world hates us!

  8. 8.

    Mnemosyne

    January 11, 2018 at 8:46 pm

    I was #30 in today’s jury pool, so I never even got to voir dire before being dismissed for the year. They would never have put me on the panel anyway since it was a car accident civil case with a neck/back injury, and I have a whiplash injury from 20 years ago that bugs me to this day.

  9. 9.

    Mnemosyne

    January 11, 2018 at 8:48 pm

    @debbie:

    G is obsessed with British panel shows, which is how I found out that Nadya from TGBBS is still a star in Great Britain.

    I do feel sorry for the people who did the last American series, though — they got hosed because Johnny whatshisname got outed as a harassing creep. And we had a Black woman who won this year!

  10. 10.

    scav

    January 11, 2018 at 8:48 pm

    @Mary G: Try some of the high hydration bread recipes aound. No kneading required.

  11. 11.

    Emerald

    January 11, 2018 at 8:50 pm

    You’re inspiring me to bake some ATK whole wheat bread.

    Meanwhile, here is the best thread ever on Twitter: https://twitter.com/owillis/status/950836669703483399

    You’re welcome.

  12. 12.

    Mnemosyne

    January 11, 2018 at 8:51 pm

    @scav:

    Or get the kneading hook attachment for the stand mixer (assuming Mary has one).

  13. 13.

    debbie

    January 11, 2018 at 8:53 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    I definitely got a smarmy vibe off him. They only showed one episode here before Christmas. I think I know who you’re referring as being the winner. Good for her!

  14. 14.

    Mike J

    January 11, 2018 at 8:54 pm

    Once you start baking bread you’re going to start making pizzas .

  15. 15.

    James E. Powell

    January 11, 2018 at 8:55 pm

    Anyhoo, here’s some bread! Bread makes everything better, right?

    “You probably need to eat something,” the baker said. “I hope you’ll eat some of my hot rolls. You have to eat and keep going. Eating is a small, good thing in a time like this,” he said. – Raymond Carver, “A Small, Good Thing”

    I wondering if maybe you’ve hit upon a way to deal with these days of rage & despair. I have to eat and keep going.

  16. 16.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 11, 2018 at 8:55 pm

    My short story is ready to be submitted in the morning!

    And I’m more than halfway through the paper markup part of novel revision, with only 35 or so significant changes that need made so far.

    And I have I Don’t Like Mondays stuck in my head.

  17. 17.

    Josie

    January 11, 2018 at 8:58 pm

    Baking is my refuge, unfortunately for my waistline.

  18. 18.

    Mnemosyne

    January 11, 2018 at 8:58 pm

    @debbie:

    For the brief minute I got to see her, she reminded me of Kimberly on TGBBS (they had similar hair). It really sucks for her, but I think Creepy Johnny was in so much of it that they couldn’t just edit him out.

  19. 19.

    Emma

    January 11, 2018 at 8:58 pm

    OK, open thread, book recommendation. I am a sucker for historical mysteries. Publisher Weekly review alerted me to The Widows of Malabar Hill, by Sujata Massey. It’s set in Bombay in the 1920s, and the protagonist is Bombay’s first woman solicitor (based on two real women whose memoirs just fought themselves to the top of my reading list). The city itself is a character, and the tensions between the different Indian groups and between them and the British are woven into the story without overwhelming the human aspects.

    Now I want to see Malabar Hill in person!

  20. 20.

    Mnemosyne

    January 11, 2018 at 9:01 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I need to pack tonight for a daylong story structure seminar I’m going to on Saturday. Technically I didn’t have to stay at the hotel it’s at the night before, but I didn’t want to have to leave the house at 7 am on Saturday morning to get there on time.

  21. 21.

    donnah

    January 11, 2018 at 9:02 pm

    Betty, that loaf looks perfect! I like to bake yeast white bread from the old Betty Crocker cookbook, but if there’s a time crunch, I bake a super yummy beer bread. The beer provides the yeast and the crust is crisp. I baked a loaf this week to go with homemade navy bean and ham soup. Comfort food!

  22. 22.

    Betty Cracker

    January 11, 2018 at 9:03 pm

    @Mike J: We’ve been making pizzas at home for years! My husband makes the crust — he’s the primary baker in the family. The best thing about our pizza: we roast a head of garlic and spread it on the crust before adding the sauce and toppings. **chef kiss** delizioso!

  23. 23.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 11, 2018 at 9:04 pm

    @Mnemosyne: fancy. I feel you about spending money to not have to wake up early.

  24. 24.

    Gelfling 545

    January 11, 2018 at 9:04 pm

    @Mary G: I couldn’t do the kneading anymore but when I got a kitchen aid mixer I found it handled it nicely. I didn’t care for the bread machine product but the mixer did as well as I ever did by hand.

  25. 25.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    January 11, 2018 at 9:05 pm

    @donnah: I’m waiting for the Betty Cracker cookbook.

  26. 26.

    Steve in the ATL

    January 11, 2018 at 9:05 pm

    @Mike J:

    Once you start baking bread you’re going to start making pizzas .

    According to the previous thread, pizzas go for $50 in Norway. Arbitrage opportunity!

  27. 27.

    Betty Cracker

    January 11, 2018 at 9:06 pm

    Oooo! Rachel is slamming the Trump admin for its frequent misspellings in press releases, commemorative posters, etc. Go girl!

  28. 28.

    Steeplejack

    January 11, 2018 at 9:06 pm

    @Mary G:

    Steve is the man for no-knead bread! All of his videos are great. Here’s “No-Knead Bread 101.”

  29. 29.

    raven

    January 11, 2018 at 9:06 pm

    @Gelfling 545: Bread machines and exercise machines are the most sold pieces of junk at yard sales.

  30. 30.

    spudgun

    January 11, 2018 at 9:07 pm

    Huh, I’ve been doing the same thing! I’ve taken up baking as a hobby to keep the sh!ttiness at bay, but my thing is sweets – cakes, cookies, etc. I’ve never been a very good cook, but I’ve decided I want to get better at it and for me, baking sort of eases me into it. My ultimate goal is a soufflé!

    *nod to BillinGlendaleCA* I, too, have recently joined the Instant Pot cult and I’m looking forward to testing mine out this weekend.

  31. 31.

    Brachiator

    January 11, 2018 at 9:07 pm

    At a recent tax seminar, the instructor spoke about issues related to the recent legalization of cannabis (the preferred term) in California. It was wild watching a strait-laced CPA talk about buds and leaves, stems, skunk, and how there would be no exise tax on resin scraped out and smoked again (and recycled resin is not a commercially available product).

    Which also brings to mind the question, might we expect some recipes for cannabis edibles to be posted here soon? ;)

  32. 32.

    Mnemosyne

    January 11, 2018 at 9:09 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Wake up early to (probably) sit in traffic, to boot, since it’s down by the airport. Not today, Satan!

  33. 33.

    MoxieM

    January 11, 2018 at 9:09 pm

    That looks awesome! (I love kneading, and miss my humongous butcher block countertop. sigh.) Well done, bread is an art. also, butter!

    ( N.B., My last previous dog would have sold her grandmother for any bread-related product.)

  34. 34.

    Origuy

    January 11, 2018 at 9:09 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: And they put herring on them.

  35. 35.

    debbie

    January 11, 2018 at 9:11 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Colbert went to town on “Normay” last night.

  36. 36.

    Steve in the ATL

    January 11, 2018 at 9:11 pm

    @Origuy: “now how much would you pay?!”

  37. 37.

    Brachiator

    January 11, 2018 at 9:11 pm

    @raven:

    Bread machines and exercise machines are the most sold pieces of junk at yard sales.

    Must be due to some kind of knead and jerk reaction.

  38. 38.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 11, 2018 at 9:11 pm

    @Brachiator: the line at my neighborhood dispensary has been out the door all week and one time around the corner.

  39. 39.

    Origuy

    January 11, 2018 at 9:12 pm

    @Brachiator: My housemates generally buy the cannabis oil and add it to a brownie mix. I don’t know the proportions.

  40. 40.

    frosty

    January 11, 2018 at 9:13 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Arbitrage opportunity!

    I saw this before I read the nym and thought “That’s gotta be Steve in the ATL.”

    ETA: Thanks for the larf.

  41. 41.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 11, 2018 at 9:13 pm

    @Mnemosyne: satan gets such a bad rap. I am currently debating whether to cut entirely or just severely curtail a scene where this is explained.

    ETA why yes I am a discovery writer, how did you know

  42. 42.

    Gelfling 545

    January 11, 2018 at 9:19 pm

    @donnah: Oh, my! Whenever I can I like to bake their 1950’s recipe. My daughter gave me a vintage copy last Christmas. My sister still has my mother’s copy. That was the recipe she always used. When I make myself a sandwich using that bread I’m transported in Proustian fashon back to grade school lunctime and longing for chocolate milk to complete the picture.

  43. 43.

    spudgun

    January 11, 2018 at 9:21 pm

    @Mary G: @Steeplejack: Also, Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery has a very popular no-knead bread – here’s a link to the recipe in the FTFNYT – https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread

  44. 44.

    Gelfling 545

    January 11, 2018 at 9:22 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I made my first pizza ever last weekend. I’ve baked bread forever but for some reason never did pizza. It was surprisingly easy & really good.

  45. 45.

    Michael Bersin

    January 11, 2018 at 9:22 pm

    Leave it to Donald Trump to suck the breaking news oxygen out of an entire state.

    In Missouri, over the last twenty-two hours:

    Oh, my – part 5

  46. 46.

    chris

    January 11, 2018 at 9:26 pm

    @Mike J: My BIL makes no-knead bread all the time. So I introduced him to Valentino’s pizza crust and I think he’s gained a few pounds. It makes a fine crust and I can go from zero to cooked pizza in less than an hour. I like to roll it thin and roll up mozzarella in the edges.

  47. 47.

    Lyrebird

    January 11, 2018 at 9:30 pm

    I’ve never used the pie filter before, but I thought I’d try it out on last thread’s main troll. Love!

    Remember Warrant? That was a good band. Any band with a song about pie knows what’s important.

    Thanks cleek and @Major Major Major Major!

  48. 48.

    Brachiator

    January 11, 2018 at 9:35 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    the line at my neighborhood dispensary has been out the door all week and one time around the corner.

    I saw stories about first day crowds. I wasn’t certain whether it had gotten better. The first crazy lines of iPhone sales comes to mind.

    Of course there’s still the slow processing of licenses. It’s crazy, but not as chaotic as it could have been.

  49. 49.

    Faithful Lurker

    January 11, 2018 at 9:36 pm

    @Mary G: I can’t recommend the NYT (sorry) no knead bread recipe enough, the Cook’s Illus, recipe link above is almost as good but the general idea makes terrific bread, with a wonderful crust with no kneading.

  50. 50.

    Aleta

    January 11, 2018 at 9:37 pm

    @Michael Bersin: His wife and his spokesppl. are trying to make the story be the affair. The story is him committing a crime.

  51. 51.

    Another Scott

    January 11, 2018 at 9:38 pm

    @Mary G: I really like our Panasonic bread machine (I think I got ours from the Panasonic online store). It dispenses the yeast separately, and it warms all the ingredients before starting the process, so recipes are very reproducible. I haven’t tried the “rapid” recipe, so it takes 3-4 hours, but that’s fine for us. The “paddle” comes out very easily and doesn’t make a huge extended divot in the loaf (though there is one, of course).

    We had an old Breadman for years that worked ok, but the belt eventually started slipping and making all kinds of racket (especially with whole wheat loafs). The Panasonic is much, much better.

    HTH a little.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  52. 52.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 11, 2018 at 9:39 pm

    @Brachiator: SF has been slow walking it because of something to do with diversity, but the one by me is open. I went Tuesday at 1pm and it took like a half hour.

  53. 53.

    Patricia Kayden

    January 11, 2018 at 9:40 pm

    @Emerald: Hilarious but suspenseful. Really enjoyed that. If only Oprah could save us.

  54. 54.

    Aleta

    January 11, 2018 at 9:43 pm

    @donnah: >yeast white bread from the old Betty Crocker cookbook<
    I agree that was a great bread and a simple recipe; my mom used it for years.

  55. 55.

    frosty

    January 11, 2018 at 9:44 pm

    @Emerald: I don’t like Twitter much because I can never figure out whether to read top to bottom or bottom to top, but that was great. He really got everyone true to … well not life, but at least his plot. I’ll probably never read the next iteration, but I enjoyed this one.

  56. 56.

    Bonnie

    January 11, 2018 at 9:45 pm

    Yes, bread . . . and butter make everything right with the world. Or, my second favorite toast and butter.

  57. 57.

    Mnemosyne

    January 11, 2018 at 9:46 pm

    @MoxieM:

    ( N.B., My last previous dog would have sold her grandmother for any bread-related product.)

    Our youngest cat loves bread, especially fresh sourdough. It’s a little weird for a cat, but AL posited about some of her other characteristics that she may be part Siamese (she has the right body type) and they’re known for having unusual tastes.

  58. 58.

    Miss Bianca

    January 11, 2018 at 9:56 pm

    @Emma: sounds cool – I’ll look for that one!

  59. 59.

    Shana

    January 11, 2018 at 9:58 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I hope you brought lots of reading material, cell phone cord, and a good sense of humor.

    I’ve started making challah again, every few weeks instead of buying Zomeks challah at my local Wegmans. Man it’s so good.

  60. 60.

    Mnemosyne

    January 11, 2018 at 10:00 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I take it that “discovery writer” is the more polite term for “pantser”? ?

    @Brachiator:

    Kevin & Bean had a famous dispensary owner on and apparently people with established businesses and no violations got priority for licenses. She has apparently been in business in West Hollywood since medical marijuana was legalized.

  61. 61.

    Michael Bersin

    January 11, 2018 at 10:07 pm

    @Aleta:

    There’s been so much breaking on this story (some directly via social media) that we’ve gone through all of our file photos of Greitens (r) (without reusing one in the same day).

    Gov. Eric Greitens (r) has kept old media at a distance, relying a lot on social media. The comments on this in response to his posts over the last day are jaw dropping – a lot of public approbation, but also a lot of right wingnut defense and excuses.

  62. 62.

    Mnemosyne

    January 11, 2018 at 10:07 pm

    @Shana:

    It wasn’t too bad except for the guy who just couldn’t stop chattering and refused to recognize the universal signal of opening my Kindle. I think he felt sorry for me because I’m still on crutches (hopefully for only a couple more weeks) but, jeez, dude, give it a rest!

    The judge was a hoot. I always like judges who go out of their way to make the jurors comfortable and be sure they understand what’s going on and what the rules are. He had a long conversation about welding with one juror that I realized was to double-check the guy’s comprehension of English since he had a pretty thick accent. But since the juror was able to explain how weld a trailer together (which is his day job), the judge seemed satisfied that he would be able to understand everything, so he stayed.

  63. 63.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 11, 2018 at 10:08 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I think it mostly refers to how individual scenes/parts are crafted within a (somewhat) outlined work.

    ETA that’s how I see it used mostly at least.

  64. 64.

    Mnemosyne

    January 11, 2018 at 10:38 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    So it’s like … all fiction writing? ? I don’t know of anyone who writes a rigid outline and sticks to it religiously. The person I know who does the most detailed outlines includes first drafts of actual scenes in it.

  65. 65.

    Jay S

    January 11, 2018 at 10:38 pm

    @Mary G: This guy has a number of quick (3-4 hour) and easy no knead loaves and some good techniques for handling and baking. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZdfub88-4D0Jc_V4T_yNrA
    https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Gamelin/e/B00FJ57G0S/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1515728276&sr=8-1

  66. 66.

    Jay S

    January 11, 2018 at 10:51 pm

    @Steeplejack: @Jay S: Or as Steeplejack said.Same Steve. A good assortment of artisan and sandwich loaves.

  67. 67.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 11, 2018 at 11:08 pm

    @Mnemosyne: you possess google. I see it used to describe people who leave larger swaths of the work up to a more curatorial free-writing process. To the extreme it can be synonymous with pantser.

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