Baking Up a Storm

I baked bread yesterday--two kinds, Oatmeal Bread and Dilly Onion Bread. This is one of the things I enjoy doing. And since I live alone and don't really need lots of bread in the house, I take it to the library where I worked before I retired and sell it. The money goes into the fund that the L.O.T.E. Relay for Life team has set up for the American Cancer Society.

I usually make 6 small loaves and 1 large of each recipe, but it varies according to what kind of bread I make.

Anyway, I got an exceptionally good do on both batches of bread. I'm always getting feedback (there are no shy people working at my library) about what worked and what didn't. It's a good thing I don't try to do this commercially, since I've had some loaves that were far from perfect and I can pick just when I want to bake.

I've started a biga to make some Italian bread later this week, probably tomorrow. I really need to get a bigger baking stone if I'm going to do much more of this. Hmmm, I wonder what baking in a wood-fired oven would be like. Just kidding.

Just finished reading Janet Evanovich and Leanne Banks' book Hot Stuff. The title works so well on so many levels. I think Janet writes some of the best animals ever to appear in a romance. (Well, that sounds rather depraved. For those of you who don't read her books, no animals are harmed in the course of the novel.) Her pets all are the kinds of animals I would end up with--lovable doofuses. Okay, I'll admit it's not just the animals I read these books for. I'm always on the lookout for another Joe Morelli or Ranger, to switch to another of her books. Anyway, Hot Stuff is a fun hour read, with characters that are clearly related by type to the Stephanie Plum books.