{"id":79,"date":"2011-10-03T11:19:44","date_gmt":"2011-10-03T11:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/?p=79"},"modified":"2011-10-03T11:19:44","modified_gmt":"2011-10-03T11:19:44","slug":"baking-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/baking-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Baking Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Has anyone else noticed how expensive healthy bread has gotten at the grocery store? Or how much like cardboard they taste? I\u2019m not sure if quality is really deteriorating, or if I\u2019ve just gotten so used to home baked bread that store bread suffers by comparison. My quest for a good sandwich loaf intensified recently. My husband complained that the wheat bread I had been getting at the store tasted awful. I had switched from the now almost $4 a loaf \u201ctop-shelf\u201d bread aisle bread to the $2 a loaf variety. (We all have to make sacrifices when the money runs low, and I thought this one was mine.) I complied by purchasing \u2026 white bread for him\u2026 blech! So a few weeks go by and he tells me that I should stop buying the white bread because it is too much like a confection, and he\u2019s right. I\u2019d hate to think about how much sugar the kids PB&amp;J have in them when using that bread. Hence the quest for a whole grain bread for a daily bread.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/bread.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-80\" title=\"bread\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/bread.jpg?resize=566%2C495\" alt=\"\" width=\"566\" height=\"495\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>My requirements were as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I know myself. As much as I love baking, I\u2019m not going to get to it more than once a week, so the bread has to freeze well and not get too stale too fast.<\/li>\n<li>It had to include whole grain.<\/li>\n<li>It had to taste yummy, again, I know myself. If it isn\u2019t a good bread, it won\u2019t be worth the effort.<\/li>\n<li>It had to come together pretty easily and not be fussy.<\/li>\n<li>It had to slice well, thinly enough to make good sandwiches.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So began my search. I had both wheat germ and wheat bran in my pantry (I don\u2019t remember why now, but it\u2019s not uncommon to have unusual grain products around) so that is where I started. The first recipe I tried was a cooks.com recipe. It had several problems with it (I\u2019ll discuss those in a minute) but I was blown away by the flavor. It had a perfect balance of sweet and salty and the grains gave it a slightly nutty flavor and texture. But there were problems. First, it\u2019s a batter bread. Some people love these, but I find them a bit fussy (and I love getting my hands in the dough, something you don\u2019t get with a batter bread). Also, so much moisture made the crumb very soft and difficult to slice into even slices. I couldn\u2019t tell you how it froze or if it got stale, it didn\u2019t last that long. Verdict? This bread satisfied requirements 2 and 3, but failed miserably on 4 and 5. Onward I go. I tried increasing the amount of flour so that rather than a batter bread, it was a moderately stiff dough. Research on The Fresh Loaf (if you\u2019re interested enough in this to have read this far, you really need to check out this site. It is amazing) indicated that sourdoughs hold up to getting stale, so I replaced half a cup of flour and half a cup of water with a cup of sourdough starter. The result was better than I could have hoped for. It has great texture, slices well, goes stale slowly and while it\u2019s not the kind of bread that draws undue attention to itself, it\u2019s flavor is excellent. In other words, the perfect sandwich loaf. I\u2019ve also adapted it for making oat bread. The recipe is:<a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111003-071647.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111003-071647.jpg?resize=418%2C560\" alt=\"20111003-071647.jpg\" width=\"418\" height=\"560\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1 cup sourdough starter<\/li>\n<li>1 tablespoon active dry yeast<\/li>\n<li>1\/4 cup warm water<\/li>\n<li>2 tablespoons honey<\/li>\n<li>2 tablespoons oil<\/li>\n<li>1 teaspoon salt<\/li>\n<li>2 1\/2 cups all purpose flour<\/li>\n<li>1 egg<\/li>\n<li>3\/4 cup bran<\/li>\n<li>1\/4 cup wheat germ<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Mix it all together to form a moderately firm dough. Let rise in a greased bowl 1 1\/2 hours or until doubled. Punch down. Rest for 10 minutes. Shape the loaf place in greased pan and rise another 30 minutes to an hour. Bake in 350 degree oven until done. To make the oatmeal bread instead, increase the water to half a cup, and replace the bran and wheat germ with a cup of old fashioned oats. This recipe makes a two pound loaf. I usually double the recipe and then divide it into three 8\u00d74 inch pans. I find the smaller pans makes a more sandwich sized slice. I put one loaf in the freezer, one in the fridge and one on the counter, where it usually doesn\u2019t last a full 24 hours. The bread is best fresh, but it keeps an acceptable flavor and texture through freezing and several days of refrigeration.<\/p>\n<p>Oh, and final cost, a little less than a dollar a loaf, at grocery store prices. I buy most of my baking supplies from Costco, so my actual cost is less.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Has anyone else noticed how expensive healthy bread has gotten at the grocery store? Or how much like cardboard they taste? I\u2019m not sure if quality is really deteriorating, or if I\u2019ve just gotten so used to home baked bread that store bread suffers by comparison. My quest for a good sandwich loaf intensified recently. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/author\/admin\/"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2gp05-1h","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1477,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/a-different-kind-of-historical-recipe\/","url_meta":{"origin":79,"position":0},"title":"A Different Kind of Historical Recipe","author":"Julie Stubbs","date":"February 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Those of you who follow me will know that I occasionally write about medieval foods, the preparation of which is one of my hobbies.\u00a0 Today I'm posting about a different kind of history, a personal one. I have enjoyed baking since I was a teenager. It was the one culinary\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/a-different-kind-of-historical-recipe\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Bread-CookBook.jpg?fit=840%2C1107&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Bread-CookBook.jpg?fit=840%2C1107&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Bread-CookBook.jpg?fit=840%2C1107&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Bread-CookBook.jpg?fit=840%2C1107&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":105,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/fallpumpkinspumpkin-bread\/","url_meta":{"origin":79,"position":1},"title":"Fall=Pumpkins=Pumpkin Bread","author":"admin","date":"October 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Fall came in with a vengeance over the weekend, and all this cooler weather has me thinking pumpkins, and pumpkins means pumpkin bread.\u00a0 This was a holiday tradition in my house, and Christmas time sees a lot of baking.\u00a0 Since I'm able to make it whenever I wish now, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cooking&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cooking","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/category\/cooking\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/DSCF3035.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/DSCF3035.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/DSCF3035.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":266,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/squirreled-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":79,"position":2},"title":"Squirreled again!","author":"admin","date":"December 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I was making my weekly bread this morning, and getting irritated because even though I make it every week, and I created the recipe myself, I still have to look it up every week. I got to thinking that it would be nice to have a decorative way of displaying\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/breadrecipe1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/breadrecipe1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/breadrecipe1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/breadrecipe1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1460,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/variations-on-an-old-theme-and-a-new-winner\/","url_meta":{"origin":79,"position":3},"title":"Variations on an Old Theme and A New Winner","author":"Julie Stubbs","date":"August 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It says something about the state of my life that most of the posts I have managed to post, have to do with food.\u00a0 I may not have time to craft, but at least I'm still putting dinner on the table.\u00a0 That's something I guess. We just got back from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cooking&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cooking","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/category\/cooking\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/cabbage2.jpg?fit=840%2C575&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/cabbage2.jpg?fit=840%2C575&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/cabbage2.jpg?fit=840%2C575&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/cabbage2.jpg?fit=840%2C575&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":328,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/no-one-trick-ponies-in-my-kitchen\/","url_meta":{"origin":79,"position":4},"title":"No One Trick Ponies in My Kitchen","author":"admin","date":"February 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I love Alton Brown.\u00a0 He is my favorite food celebrity.\u00a0 His mix of science and food is irresistible to me, and his quirky humor makes it fun to watch.\u00a0 He also has some very good advice, which my husband usually insists that I follow.\u00a0 No one trick ponies in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cooking&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cooking","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/category\/cooking\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/krumkake4.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/krumkake4.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/krumkake4.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/krumkake4.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1363,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/some-food-is-just-not-photogenic\/","url_meta":{"origin":79,"position":5},"title":"Some Food is Just NOT Photogenic","author":"Julie Stubbs","date":"July 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"So, I've begun work on another project. (Like I needed another one, right?) Several years ago, my mother put together a collection of her favorite recipes.\u00a0 She called it Legacy, and had copies printed up for my brother and myself. The first thing that you need to understand is that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cooking&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cooking","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/category\/cooking\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/corncasserole1.jpg?fit=840%2C941&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/corncasserole1.jpg?fit=840%2C941&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/corncasserole1.jpg?fit=840%2C941&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/corncasserole1.jpg?fit=840%2C941&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}