Blog article about my sister!

Sara has been doing some amazing things with (nearly) gluten-free sourdough.  That’s right, SOURDOUGH.  She uses rice flour, I believe, fermented and added to a mixture of various gluten-free flours, to try to rival the flavour and popularity of her gluten-full breads.

Check it out over here!

And while you’re at it, here’s some more great press!!!

I had an amazing NEW concept this week following a super-fun bread workshop on Thursday:  a 2-generation, 3-baker bread workshop, with me, my mother, and Sara. 

Each of us could present one bread from start to finish: something like challah, no-knead and sourdough… or whatever.  Anything, really!

I mentioned it to my mother, who is pretty gung ho.  Haven’t told Sara yet… or anybody at our shul, which would be a fabulous (and kosher!) place to do it.  NOT my mother’s kitchen… or mine, I suppose.

Anyway, please take a minute to LIKE my sister’s very worthwhile up-and-coming bakery operation over here in Facebook-land.

p.s. don’t click here unless you want to see her very “unbaked” to-be-constructed website.

Day Off!

Well, not a day off, but kind of a “working vacation” at the Shoresh First (hopefully annual!) Food Conference yesterday.

I was covering it for the Canadian Jewish News, but I let someone snap this delightful shot of me kneading some authentic flour-and-water-only half-whole-wheat matzah.  There was a timer present, and indeed, the whole process was complete in under 18 minutes.

Tons of fun!

I attended two other sessions:  “Kosher Curds” and “Is Kosher Meat Fit to Eat?”  Tons of food for thought – it was kind of obvious that this was a pilot run, as some aspects weren’t as well-thought-out as others (I don’t think anybody thought to invite the mainstream kosher organizations here in town), but what a great concept!  I really hope they do it again next year.

Baking Workshop

So this Tuesday is the first of a six-part baking workshop that I have volunteered to teach / lead at Elisheva’s school – to Elisheva’s great mortification.

The catch is that I have from 1:45 to 2:25 to get the girls in, settled down, working and then out the door, preferably with a “baked good” in hand. 

Elisheva said sometimes the teachers stay longer to shut off the oven and leave the baked goods in the office for the girls to pick up later, but I don’t have that luxury.  My mother is a reluctant babysitter at best so I will have to leave immediately afterwards.  Maybe there’s somebody else in the school who I can deputize to turn off the oven and take out whatever-it-is at the end of the bake time???

Anyway, here are my thoughts for what we’re going to do.  Elisheva has cautioned me that it is NOT a forum to do major bread-baking.  Fair enough, but I do want to do ONE bread thing.  Like a pizza thing, which doesn’t take too long, would be reasonable, and definitely falls within the realm of baking.  Maybe alternating sweet and savoury?

Week 1:  Rice Krispie Squares (this was Sara’s suggestion – basic, pareve, a universal favourite)

Week 2:  Soft Pretzels.  Elisheva’s friend claims to have a quickie recipe (faster than mine), and at a high oven temp, short bake time, it could work…

Week 3:  Chocolate-chip cookies.  Basic, classic.

Week 4:  No-knead super-EASY pizza.  Make dough ahead, but while the pizzas bake, have the girls mix their own to take home?

Week 5:  Gingerbread cookies or some other easy pareve rolled & stamped cookie.

Week 6:  Challah, or at least challah braiding.  I’ve got to; I really, really must.  Prepare dough ahead of time so it’s ready for rolling & braiding.  At the beginning of the class, prepare cinnamon buns with “leftover” dough.  While it bakes, girls can braid challahs to take & bake at home.  Later, they get fresh cinnamon buns to eat!

I wonder if there’s a budget for this thing?  Or if I’m supposed to pay for it all out of my pocket…?

The person organizing the “activity periods” (baking is just one of many options the girls can select for this brief spare period) said she’d get in touch and arrange for me to see the space ahead of time. 

Well, it’s Sunday night and the class is on Tuesday.  And so far, I have no idea where I’m going to be working or anything… stay tuned!