When baking bread, each recipe tells you the kind of yeast that you need to use. Typically, for home bakers, there are two kinds of yeast that you need to worry about: active dry yeast and instant yeast. Sometimes you can get fresh yeast at specialty food stores, but the shelf life is short, so most home bakers use commercially … Read More
Irish Soda Bread
A couple of years ago, I had the good fortune to get to visit Ireland for a week. It was my first trip to Europe and it couldn’t have been a better place to take my first overseas trip. The sights were beautiful, there is something so humbling about seeing buildings that have been around longer than the country that you … Read More
Whole Wheat Challah
Snowy cold weather and super short days are perfect reasons to jump headfirst back into baking bread on a regular basis. When the weather is nice and the sun is up until 9 p.m. it is often hard for me to hang around home long enough to get some bread baked. But now, at 5 p.m., when it is dark … Read More
Soft Italian Bread and Walnut Pesto
Oh my good grief, this pesto is good. I made it for the first time last year and this year I planted six basil plants to ensure that I would have enough basil to make this stuff by the bucketful. It is great on pasta and really good slathered on some soft homemade bread. Rumor has it that pesto can … Read More
Marti Gras-Cinnamon Roll King Cake
Happy Marti Gras! Here is a cinnamon roll variation of King Cake that I made this morning. All the recipes I have read for King Cake are cinnamon filled yeasted coffee cakes. I decided that cinnamon rolls are the perfect individual sized portions of King Cake. No baby hidden inside, the prize is the the cinnamon sugar awesomeness … Read More
Pear Bread
I used to live in Seattle. It’s a really fun city with a lot to do and a lot of fantastic places to eat. I try and get back for a weekend visit every once in awhile. I have a friend who used to have a great condo right above the Macrina Bakery and Cafe. Every time we visit, I … Read More
Cinnamon Rolls
Cinnamon rolls are the perfect breakfast treat. Straightforward yeast dough filled to the brim with sugar and cinnamon and topped with your favorite icing! Homemade cinnamon rolls are hands down my favorite breakfast food. My mom used to only make them for special occasions, like Christmas, and I would anticipate them for weeks. I love these cinnamon rolls plain, warm, … Read More