Sharing of ideas

I have mentioned that some of the best times in England were spent with my sister and her family. My sister cooks like a domestic goddess and bakes like a mad woman! Her hubby makes the most delicious breads on weekends and is handy at the BBQ!

He educated me with regards to "how to make a poolish" when he was making baguettes. This is how it goes down - he is a man of few words :-)

Me: "What are you making?"

Him: "A poolish."

Me: "What's that?"

Him - hands me a book simple called "Crust" and leaves me to get on with it.

In my understanding a poolish allows grains that would produce a heavy bread to rise more and be a little lighter. So I was delighted to find that the book had a spelt recipe using a poolish. I suppose it can be likened to a sour dough starter as you make a very wet dough with a little yeast, allow it to rise then add more flour, water and yeast for a second rise, then shape and bake.



My spelt loaves have been like little rocks before but these loaves that I made yesterday were light and moist.



I bought my brother in law a pasta roller as a thank you. My nephew's girlfriend was the first to roll the pasta! What a delightful time...all of us were in the kitchen, some making a salad, others a bread, nephew doing homework and Miss A. and I made pasta.



It was such a blessing to hand on this simple skill and we made enough for her to take some home to her mom too.