Sunday, March 22, 2009

On A Gorgeous Sunny Day

Home-Baked French Bread

It was such a gorgeous day yesterday!
The day before yesterday (Mar. 20th) was my last day at the daytime job. No more waking up at 5 am to rush to work. Yay! So yesterday, I was almost going for a bento lunch under cherry blossoms as a celebration. But after taking a few photos in the nearby park, I finally decided against it, because only a few trees were blooming there and the ground underneath them was really muddy. (The photos are posted on another blog of mine.) Instead, I chose to have more aggressive(?) fun in the kitchen, kneading and beating bread dough. ;)

Instead of making two baguettes, I baked it into a boule.

After taking these photos, I sliced this boule and used two slices for making garlic toast. They were G-R-E-A-T! (Sorry. No photos.) Crispy, crunchy and garlicky toast... I enjoyed them with sparkling wine and that was my celebration. You know I seldom drink in the daytime, and having sparkling wine with home-baked bread, in the bright afternoon sunshine, was special enough for me to call a small celebration treat.

Maybe next week I'll thaw the frozen slices and make a sandwich with them to eat under the cherry blossoms -- if the weather permits.

BTW, in order to improve my bread and also to use for another purpose, I ordered some packages of "malt flour." I'll use it next time I bake bread and let you know the result.
;)

13 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

What a beautiful bread! Happy spring!

Cheers,

Rosa

J*me said...

Sometimes, it's the simple things in life that are the most enjoyable!

The bread looks so yummy! ^O^

K and S said...

yummy! this looks great and whoo hoo you don't have to wake up early anymore :)

Anonymous said...

Uah~! The bread really looks yummy!! ^3^ Oishisou desu!
Was it very hard to knead?? I always try to do Home-baked bread but I'm so lazy!! ^____^

Anonymous said...

いつ見てもおいしそう。。。your breads always make my mouth water.

さーに

kodocha said...

wow this loaf of bread looks like bought in a bakery! you're so good!
How did u do that...everytime i bake bread turns out like crap, it doesn't have such golden browny crunchy crust and the inside is very gummy rather than being soft and airy.
Do you mind sharing the recipe?? =)

ghanima said...

Your bread looks lovely, Obachan! I never did get mine to look this photogenic. Consider me jealous.

SkyJuice said...

The bread looks sooo good, Obachan. Well done! :-)

Anonymous said...

Looks lovely.

obachan said...

Rosa
Yep, happy spring to you, too.

J*me
I totally agree. (And there are nothing but simple things in my life anyway.) ;p

K & S
I still wake up very early, though.
Aging...???

Kiria
Just do it when you feel very aggressive. ;)

さーに
Thanks!

Kodocha
Well, I'll see what I can do.
BTW, about the name you're using... Is "kodocha" from a Japanese manga??

Ghanima
Hey, the crust of your bread looks so tasty. Mine turned soft rather quickly and I'm looking forward to using malt flour to see if it would help.

SkyJuice
Thank you! :D

Ironic
So nice of you to say that. Thanks.

kodocha said...

yes, my nickname is taken from the manga Kodomo no Omocha, which i love to bits =)
thanks for the recipe!

Unknown said...

Obachan

What kind of yeast do you use ? Totemo Oishiso.

Irene from France

obachan said...

Kodocha;
Hope you liked the recipe.

Yling;
I use a very popular brand of dry yeast. (That reminds me. I'd better check the expiration date.)