Today marks the end of Micro-Bakery Cycle III. Many thanks to subscribers and supporters, and especially to my wife, who's been putting up with my Friday-Saturday bread routine for many weeks.
For the record, this weekend more than made up for my disappointing bake last week. For some reason, I was more in tune with the process this time, and that made all the difference. I mixed in the evening, went out, then came back to find the dough puffy and soft (a good sign). I heated the oven a little hotter, and made sure to slice (score) the dough more carefully. And voila, the loaves expanded beautifully in the oven, came out with a rich, burnished crust, and sang as they cooled on the counter.
I'm taking the next couple weeks off from the Micro-Bakery, due to some travel and my birthday, but I got some classic bread books in the mail this past week and look forward to trying some new recipes during my time off!
Note: if the pictures seem redundant, it's because I was reveling in the explosive rising of the loaves. It's the year of the dragon, and jagged, fiery dragon bread is back.
