good thing there's good bread.

ooooooooof!
well, duders,
the bread scene around here is getting better all the time.
and that's just about the only good news.
baking up my breakfast is such a concentrated, conscientious, conscious,
and calming series of steps-
making bread from scratch might just be therapeutic,
with the intervals and attention needed being the pause-page-breaks
in between all the other other running around and racing about
that has been my day-to-day today-and-everyday doo-doo buttery busy big business.
wow.
getting the kneads met is meeting my needs right now.
stop it.
what?
well, yeah,
flour, water, salt, and yeast are all you gotta have on hand,
but,
i will admit, i cheat a bit.
in the instances where the whole wheat or rye starter are used,
i add gluten to those whole grain jauns.
i do.
a little assistance goes a long way,
and the oven spring of a glute'd-up loaf really shows the appreciation
that a cold-proofed dough can show by bouncing up big and bubbly
on that hot oven stone or in that hot cast iron cauldron.
mmmmhmmmmmm.
i've been busy baking my buns off,
but also pinching all these loaves together too.
hahaha.
c'mon.
wanna see what i've been up to?
okay.
check the naturally-leavened-type teleport:

CRUST AND CRUMB, y'bums!!!
that's seeded rye,
with light, dark, and cracked whole grains in it!
dudes,
a cup of whole wheat/rye starter,
a lot of warm water, (1.5+ cups)
a tablespoon of salt
2 cups white flour
1 cup light rye
.5 cup dark rye
and 3/4 cup cracked rye groats.
all of that,
and a few tablespoons of lightly toasted caraway seeds??
expert.
what else have i gotten into?
well,
there's always a loaf of white mountain white sourdough on hand
here at the Folk Life & Liberty Fortress.
check it:

wooooooo!
high hydration, like 80%,
gave this one a full head of steam.
it's got the white bread scoring i always do,
and by always i mean:
rules is rules,
and that's always, from now until whenever and ever...
but,
holy heck did it blow up and out.
yup.
that impressive seam is second only to the impressive flavor of the surface,
crusty, crunchy, chewy and replete with molto pentosans.
i love bread, neighbors.
real talk-
this sourdough trip has been the best staycation i've ever been on.
ha.
more?
okay.
teleport:

this one is a low hydration white.
see the difference?
it rose a lot more in the cloche,
but the crust stayed together, i think,
because i radially scored around the rim as well.
like a pop-up top hat, made of wheat.
whatever, man-
it tasted great,
and it lives on in spirit and memory,
in my cells and stuff like that.
how about one last one?
yeah.
too much is the right amount, y'know?
look:

that long loaf, though.
rectangular banneton proofing is so choice.
this little lovely
is a low hydration (>70%) white starter,
with a mix of 50% white king arthur bread hottness,
25% organic spelt,
and 25% sprouted whole wheat,
with almost a tablespoon of salt.
after a loooong bulk ferment,
and an average (10+) cold proof,
this guy brought the noise when baked.
oven spring has been crazy around here,
and the puff-puff-jump-off and the come-up are doing it for me.
***********
good bread makes better people.
therefore,
i'm doing my best to be the best version of me-
and that's way harder than keeping the dough from F*ing up.
as time passes, far too quickly, the learning curve gets steeper.
as morning slips away, again, these hills seem steeper too.
i suppose that's just the weather talking.
yeah.
it's finally raining here,
and the temperature has dropped thirty degrees.
everything is drippy, and droopy,
but from the weight of the long-awaited respite from the heat.
before, it was all wilted from thirst.
the sated spaces of woodsly goodness are all rejoicing.
nature doesn't care if it's raining like i care if it's raining.
when the woods gets wet, everybody wins.......
...except crabtree and me.
we'll be bedraggled, coldish, and soaked to the bone-
but we're still gonna do what we do, duders.
that's just how it goes;
never quiet, never soft.....