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I love the texture and crust of Italian bread so I looked for a recipe that used preferment. Here is the recipe that I mostly followed with some modifications: http://www.artisanbreadbaking.com/breads/italian/italian.htm

I decided to shape in the form of Boules for this baking session:

The Boule on the left was freeformed while the Boule on the right was formed in a Banneton

This is the free-formed Boule up close glazed with egg white

and sesame seeds

This is the Boule formed in Banneton and withour sesame 

seeds

This is the crumb formation of the free-formed Boule

As mentioned earlier I used the recipe in the link, but with modifications.  I used an Italian Sourdough starter that I had refrigerated.  I fed the starter then allowed about 12 hours at room temperature(mid 70s) to become

fully activated.  I observed bubble formation of starter as well. I used the starter in lieu of the preferment in the recipe.  I wasn't sure of my starter's hydration but would guess around 70%.  I mixed the  activated starter with the final

dough ingredients in the recipe,  After mixing dough with paddle and dough hook I placed dough on floured surface then hand kneaded slightly to get a feel of the dough.  I then placed in a round plastic container similar to King Arthur Flours container

but purchased much cheaper from Smart & Final store.  I placed the dough in the refrigerator for overnight retarded fermentation.  I do the same for all my breads and pizza dough too..  I believe it improves the dough and it allows me to bake early in the day

when I am rested and more energetic.  I started baking around 9 am the next day.

I acknowledged that I had a wet dough during mixing with my paddle attachment on Kitchenaid Artisan mixer.  By the way I purchase new paddle attachment on the internet that boasts scraping the sides.  The original paddle did

not scrape the sides.  The new one really works!  I hardly need to use a scraper before switching to the dough hook for kneading the bread.  Another hint from Fine Cooking magazine is to spray the attachments with oil spray to minimize

dough sticking to attachment.  This works well also.

Because my dough was on the wet side I decided to implement a folding routine at 30 minute intervals.  I did 3 folds using standard folding technique.  The texture was excellent so I am glad I used folding.

I am still trying to master scoring.  It takes care, a good sharp blade and practice.  I believe the scoring depth was the major problem here.  I noticed that when I moved the blade(serrated tomato knife) across the bread's surface that the blade

would pull the dough.  This would deform the tic tac tow look.  The 2nd boule using the banneton I tried to avoid the deforming by reworking the blade at individual cross areas instead of across the entire surface in one motion.  I believe this worked

better.

I am open to comments and suggestions.

Cornbread's not much to brag about, but it sure tastes good. Done in a cast iron skillet with bacon, onions, corn and cheese.

Okay, I'm going to admit it.....  I'm just about the only one in my family with a sweet tooth!  One of my grandmothers had one but unfortunately she is no longer with us.  I realized that I was the sole family member left to carry her torch as I gradually noticed that I was the one who always got nominated to make desserts for our family gatherings.  It's not that I'm some kind of pastry chef, I'm just the only one who really enjoys making desserts.  So this is how I will preface yet another post from me in the "sweets" forum.

I got the recipe for Summer Fruit Pie from the CI Best Recipe book, and I have made it with various fruits many times.  In this instance I used the excuse that I had received fresh peaches from my parents who had picked them from a peach farm here in North FL.   After DH and I ate our fill of raw ones, I put the rest in this pie:

This is a very easy and satisfying crust for which the food processor does most of the mixing.

Summer