Thursday Things | October 25, 2012

Time for this week’s Thursday Things:

1. I’ve become obsessed with researching, making, and baking bread. I’ve ordered books, including this one that was just delivered earlier today. With 1000+ nearly 5-star reviews, it can’t be bad. I’m excited to start reading it.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking

And some of my existing cookbooks now have new-to-me chapters because all of a sudden I’m reading, rather than skimming or skipping, the yeast-based recipes.

I’ve tried a variety of yeasts, from Fleishman’s to Trader Joe’s to the new Red Star Platinum, which is my favorite to date. Talk about a puffy, fluffy loaf. And it was a wheat bread no less, which are usually destined for being much heavier and denser, aka more brick-like. Recipe coming soon.

I want this Emile Henry loaf pan because everything tastes better when baked in a beautiful pan.

Or this LeCrueset Heritage Stoneware Loaf Pan.  Bakers seem to rave about these types of stoneware pans and I’d love to try one.

I am adding recipes and ideas to my Pinterest bread boards daily.

I wish I had people to feed all this ‘inspiration’ I keep seeing and that I want to make. I could always make more Pumpkin Cinnamon Overnight Pull-Apart French Toast though.

I just love making the dough and kneading it, feeling the squishiness between my fingers. And as much as I don’t like waiting for things in general, there’s a certain element of fun surprise as I wait for the yeast to work its magic and the dough to rise, wondering and hypothesizing what’s going to become of it as it rises and then is baked. Eating the bread is wonderful, but it’s almost secondary to the process, which delights me. Part science, part art.

2. Chefs eat candy, too according to a recent Bon Appetit article and we’re talking more along the lines of Snickers and Reese’s Cups than Godiva or See’s, a personal fave.

3. I came across these Vosges Pink Champagne Truffles. Piper Heidsieck brut rosè Champagne inside 65% cacao dark chocolate, yes please. I love rosè Champagne and infusing it inside chocolate sounds dangerously wonderful.

4. Are you a fan of Biscoff? If so, the Huffington Post has 22 Biscoff Recipes that should keep you busy for awhile.

They featured my Chocolate Banana and Biscoff Graham Bars. Seeing these bars again makes me remember my trip to Aruba because I made them there and the day that I made them, the Biscoff, chocolate chips, and bananas were a literal hot mess, oozing and melting everywhere. There are worse problems to have.

5. I did have a computer problem a couple days ago. I was so excited because I had a window of four ‘extra hours’ and was going to get a jump on some blog work, emails, photo editing and just get to that place of ‘feeling ahead’ on things place until my Firefox randomly crashed. I was stuck in this browser-glitching-limbo state that took me four fun-filled hours to fix. So much for getting ahead but I did get it fixed. I’ve used Firefox for years and although I use Chrome as my backup, I just gravitate to what I’ve always used. I’ve never really gotten into Safari, but that’s Scott’s browser of choice.

In playing around with Chrome, Firefox, and Safari it was very interesting seeing how differently the same website appears when opened with different browsers.

If you’re a blogger, you may want to read this article about it. “For instance, you might open Firefox and see a WP blog that’s centered on the screen, has three columns, and shows links in bright green text. The same blog in IE could be left-aligned, arranged in only one column, and display links in the standard shade of blue. It’s even possible that a theme or template won’t work at all in one or more browsers, making your blog entirely unavailable to a whole segment of the potential market…”

Here’s a free Adobe download to see how your site appears in different browsers. Most notably, subtle yet distinct variations in font, both in the style and size of the font, were noticeable. I like my font the best in Firefox.

6. Rustic Foreside Iron Clock, $78 at Nordstrom – An antiqued iron clock that looks as handsome on the mantle as it does on a side table or dresser. I need a new alarm clock and I dig this rustic one. I wonder what the alarm sounds like. I wonder if it’s like an old bell, which sounds like a bad way to wake up, a bell gong-ing in my ear.

7. Butterscotch Custards with brown sugar, butter and a hint of whiskey sounds perfectly old-fashioned and comforting.

I love butterscotch anything, especially these.

8. Need to dress up for Halloween? This is about as ‘dressed up’ as I get for the holiday anymore and looks like my idea of perfect costume and the price is right. Angora blend bat sweater for $24.95 at H&M.

9. Thanks to The Kitchn for the Delicious Links feature on my Banana Zucchini Pudding Cake with Vanilla Browned Butter Glaze

10. I received this soon-to-be released cookbook from Chef Carla Hall, Cooking with Love: Comfort Food that Hugs You

You may remember her from Season 5 of Top Chef. She has such a gentle, genuine, sweet way about her. Her open and friendly nature really comes through in the writing and stories in her new cookbook. The recipes are comfort food-based, with a Southern influence, but geared toward using fresh and seasonal ingredients to give a modern twist to tried-and-true classics. If you loved Carla as much as I did on Top Chef, her book will make you feel like she and her infectiously happy personality is standing alongside you in your kitchen.

And I am so excited about Season 1o 0f Top Chef, Seattle, which starts November 7.

If you’ve made anything, done, seen, or bought anything fabulous recently, feel free to link it up in the comments.

Have you tried making anything new in the kitchen lately?

If you’re ever tried making bread, or have any great books, tools, pans, or tips, I’m all ears..

Tell me about the new recipes you’re trying for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Chanukah or some of your tried-and-true classics you’ll always make.