Cracked Wheat Bread

Found a bread recipe that only requires an oven temperature of 350 degrees - great for my oven (has problems with high temps) and great for baking in the summer:) The cracked wheat bread recipe uses molasses which imparts a brownish color to the bread. It is a hearty bread but moist and not too dense - great with sardines:)

Irish Brown Bread

This is my first experience baking Irish Brown Bread or for using Irish-Style Whole-Meal Flour. This wet, cool day in Maryland seemed like a great day to bake so I tried this new bread recipe (recipehttp://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/irish-brown-bread-recipe)
The dough was very wet, almost like a muffin batter, so it was difficult to knead but it turned out well. It would be a great bread with stew or soup on a winter day. Its been awhile since I've had fish so I had a slice with a can of sardines; been wanting to eat sardines for awhile (40% of recommended daily calcium amount!). A delicious, hearty bread!

Note the "cross" the recipe called for cutting across the bread.

Despite having to add more flour than I expected (due to wetness) to knead the bread was moist and not too dense.

Buddhism

My interest in Buddhism has steadily increased over the course of my journey. In addition to attending group meditation and dharma talks at the local Buddhist center, I'm now taking online classes through dharmafield.org. I've read several of Steve Hagen's books and like his teaching style.

Selling Truck

Now that the Airstream is no longer part of my life:(, I no longer need my big truck. Don't get me wrong, it is a nice truck, and in addition to being a great tow vehicle, it often comes in handy for moving things around. But I just don't need a 3/4 ton diesel towing vehicle; besides, it is a challenge to park here on the congested east coast:) So I plan to sell the truck and have contemplated not replacing it with another motor vehicle but have decided my current situation requires some sort of transportation - but what? It rains too much for a scooter; plus, since I'm still mobile, I need more cargo room than a scooter provides.

Selling:
2014 GMC Sierra SLT Crew Cab Diesel with Allison transmission
Leather, heated/ventilated seats; bed liner, etc. About 33,000 miles.
Kelly Blue Book lists the value at:
Private Party Sale: $46,764
Trade in to Dealer: $43,318

Neither of the above values include my ARE T-Wedge Truck Topper ($1,787 new).

Cinnamon Raison Bran Muffins

Trying to use up the last of my King Arthur Oat Bran, I made the muffin recipe on the back of the package. Reduced sugar to 1/2c brown and baked at 400 degrees for 21 minutes; turned out well. Their not overly sweet (or moist) but they're relatively healthy and taste good; best with a glass of milk:) Will try to incorporate banana next time to increase moisture. Makes for a quick breakfast of snack. Plan to take some to tea today.

Paper Baking Pans

Been baking with paper baking pans lately; handy for gifting. Baked whole-wheat zucchini bread today in two different size pans; the trick is figuring out when the bread is done in different sized pans:) The cool thing about these pans is that you just tear away the pan before serving; no need to try to remove the bread from the pan.

3.5"x6.5"
2.5"x4.5"

Artisan Bread and Oven Temperature

Artisan and no-knead breads often require baking temperatures in excess of 400 degrees. Since moving to Maryland, I've resumed baking but haven't had much luck with these types of bread; they don't rise in the oven as much as I'm used to. Finally figured out that my oven runs anywhere from 50 to 100 degrees cooler than the temperature I set it for and so far, it hasn't been able to reach 450 degrees. My solution is to set the temperature higher than needed and let it preheat longer; this morning I set the oven temperature for 500 (for a recipe calling for 450 degrees) and let it warm up for an hour. This seems to help although it waste a lot of energy preheating so long and the temperature still doesn't quite reach what the recipe calls for. One thing I've been doing to take advantage of the hot oven is to put a sweet potato in the oven during pre-heating and after baking bread; potatoes seem very tolerant about oven temperature and time:)

A loaf of basic white bread baked (with artisan topping) at about 400 degrees for 35 minutes; recipe calls for 450 degrees.

Breads, like this cracked wheat, that call for oven temperatures of 350 degrees come out fine in my oven. This load was baked in a 9x5 pan.

Basic white bread.