bread and olive oil (recipe!)

[liminal_space]

* we have big fluffy flakes of the white stuff drifting down today. i'm still not impressed. it's 23 degrees and THAT impresses me. brr. 

* i finished king's /desperation/ last night and ended up enjoying it more than i thought i would. there were a few plot points that made me just shake my head, but it was pretty solid for the most part. next up is /the heaven and earth grocery story/ by james mcbride...i'm a few pages in and so far? yep. definitely yep. 

for reading goals this year, i set the number at 42 total (some of the books i choose really do take awhile to get through) and am going to add some nonfiction in there (feh) as well as THREE booker (mann) prize winners. i may let myself pick something from shortlists, or i may not: i'm a kaleidoscope of unpredictability, yo. 

* i'm spending the rest of the afternoon in the studio doing things. i don't know what things i'm doing, but there you have it. i SHOULD work on january's budget, but i'm sticking my head in the sand on that one until friday. 

~

for man_of_snows, zeecha, and anyone else who is interested in making focaccia:

1. watch this video two or three times. the fold part? that's the trickiest and you need to sort of GET what she's saying before you dig in. (srsly, i watched this video about 10 times before i made it and then a few more times while i was making it.)

1. so the notes: A) it really is important to make sure your flour has the right protein content — 12% is the minimum. i used regular bread flour with 12.4% protein. i was unable to find the 000 flour like she used, so just stuck with what was easiest to get.  B) her recipe calls for a lot less water than i used — i think because her flour was the 000 type. i added probably a quarter cup more water to get my dough looking like what she had. C) i used instant yeast — be sure and check what water temperature you need (i killed one batch because i didn't check). D) get a feel for the dough — you want to make sure you stretch without tearing (but i tore a few times the first go around, so i think the dough is forgiving). i used a pull/stretch with a gentle wiggle to get it right. E) i did the pull and fold thing a total of five times. i kept both batches in the fridge for over 12 hours. F) preheat your oven to temp for sure. 


2. i used parchment paper both times, for what it's worth. clean up was a breeze. 


3. i used fresh rosemary and fresh garlic for both loaves. it's the BEST....but she's not lying when she says to oil the addons or they'll burn. lol


4. if you make it, PLEASE share pictures! here's a photo of the last one (i maybe should have gone a few minutes more, but we were HUNGRY.) --

delicious!