We seem to be eating a lot of bread these days. Maybe bread is the ultimate comfort food. Here's a whole-wheat loaf I baked last week. The photos I posted last week showed not this loaf but the other I made from the same batch of dough. This loaf, sliced using the bread slicing guide I bought a couple of years ago, went into the freezer. And it's reassuring to know it's in there. We have other breads in the freezer too, both sandwich slices and sections of French baguettes.
Bread-making is entertainment, and in a way bread-eating is too. Today, the 17th of my confinement, our lunch will be croque-monsieur sandwiches — the French-café-style grilled ham and cheese. Our problem right now is that we are running low on flour. Yesterday I put together an on-line order for groceries from our local Intermarché supermarket. Flour (farine) was marked as a bientôt disponible ("available soon") item on the site. They must have sold their entire stock. And the first available pick-up date when I was on the site yesterday (Monday) was Friday morning. By now, I'm sure it'll be next week before we can get supplies from Intermarché.
By the way, I got news from CHM saying he's not on the internet right now. He'll be back soon, he hopes.
ReplyDeleteYes, I was wondering about our chm. I like to get my regular dose of his commentary.
ReplyDeleteYour loaf is perfection. Our stores are changing every couple days. More restrictions, earlier closings, fewer people allowed inside. Seems like mornings are the best bet.
On a travel show I saw a woman in Switzerland slicing bread and after each slice she turned the loaf a quarter turn. She said that helped keep the slices even. I would definitely need a slicing guide. Your bread looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the news on chm.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I both bake a lot. We still have a bag of flour left, but right now flour is harder to get than toilet paper. At least yesterday I was able to pick up some TP at the grocery store, but I haven't seen any flour there for a couple of weeks.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear about the lack of flour by you. I found some at SuperU today, for pick-up on Friday if all goes to plan. We still have a good supply of TP, which I buy in 24-roll packs at LIDL in either Romorantin or Loches when I go shopping in those places.
DeleteI hope chm is back soon. I hope you get some flour soon. There is a wait time here for store pick-ups and some items like normal rice are gone. Luckily I had a lot of flour on hand. I agree that bread is comfort food. I've been having a bagel everyday through this. We are on day 16 here.
ReplyDeletePresumably people who don't usually bake are stockpiling flour against a shortage of bread and cake. Or maybe regular bakers are just stockpiling against a shortage of flour - which they have created by stockpiling. Or maybe they're just concerned that they won't be able to get to the shops to buy flour. Who knows? Who can read the minds of people who stockpile anything......maybe they think there seems to be a shortage so quick, lets make sure there is.
ReplyDeleteAs there seems to be no shortage of bread or cakes I suspect there will be a lot of out of date unused flour thrown out in a few months' time!
Gracious, I hope chm is back online soon. Dedene's Internet connection wasn't working a few weeks ago, and she had to wait for weeks for them to fix it!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful bread, Ken :)
Your loaf looks delicious. I have heard that many parents are baking with their children now that they are home. But there are probably hoarders, too. My daughter went shopping for me yesterday and brought some wonderful "oops" bread. I laughed when I saw that is on the label. It means "oops, we made too much bread". It was a rye bread which is my favorite and quiet inexpensive because it's "oops". She also brought a creamy feta which can be spread on toast like butter. I'd never had this before and it's delicious.
ReplyDeleteWe can't get flour here either (near San Francisco). The local chi-chi grocer has repackaged what little they have into smaller bags so it will go farther. The owner of the local coffee house told me she can't get pastries to sell because her vendor can't get flour. Yet we are assured over and over that there's plenty of food in the pipeline (somewhere!).
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