Give us this Day...

[RazorDingo]

Our Daily Bread.

I love good bread. But, I have to confess, I'm a hopeless baker. I've tried everything - buying the freshest, best flour, top quality yeast, following the recipe religiously, kneading, proofing, etc. etc. All to no avail - my loaves come out more like bricks than anything else. I've also seen more Automatic Breadmakers stacked up on the shelves of the local thrift stores to be very tempted to go that route.

I'm very glad, therefore that the last few years have seen a significant increase in the availability of good artisanal-made bread near me.

A small bakery a couple of miles from me now sells pain au chocolat and croissants that would make a Frenchman grin - the perfect feathery and flaky pastry melts in your mouth. I'll sometimes stop there on my bike route, buy a demi-baguette, and tuck it into the back pocket of my cycling jersey as a treat to enjoy when I get home.

 

[ouch]

Now that just looks killer.

 

[mretzloff]

I had one of those before. They taste amazing!

I wish I had a local baker

 

[Fnord5]

The trick to bread is not the recipe nor the ingredients.

It is all about the feel of the dough.

When it is ready to be bread, it feels "just so"

 

[SilkySmooth]

OK that pic has my mouth watering!

 

[mr_economy]

Pain au chocolat! Oh how I miss those! My tiny French town of 9,000 people had six (6!) 'boulangeries', plus a couple country artisans who came in for the weekly farmer's market. I was particularly fond of one, and every Tuesday I'd buy two pain au chocolat and a baguette. My last day in town I stopped by to say goodbye and she gave me a half dozen treats for the road.

We have a couple 'artisan' bakeries here in my town, and the quality is good but the prices are ridiculous ($3 for a baguette, are you crazy????).

 

[Phog Allen]

I know Kyle. I love Wheatfields but at times the prices are...yeah. Great Harvest is even pricier. I have lately taken to making a lot our bread at home but baguettes? They are so deceptively simple yet next to impossible for the home baker to make perfectly. If you get the Chance, drop by the Merc and look over the selection of bulk flours there. They have tons. It is more than a little ironic that Kansas produces more wheat than any state in the Union yet pays as much(and sometimes more) for bread and wheaten products as other states. Same with beeves for butchering. Locally, decent K.C. Strip steaks have risen to $8-14 per pound depending on store and ranch supplying them. I guess that is one way to keep my red meat intake down!

Regards, Todd

P.S. Tomorrow for the KU football kickoff, the former owner of the old Joe's Bakery is going to reveal the family's secret recipe for their doughnuts. That ought to bring in a ton of people.