Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

As I mentioned earlier, I no longer am able to get ESPN on the "big dish" so I joined friends Tiit and Ann Raid to watch the game this past Monday.

during the course of the evening, Ann, knowing ow much I like to cook and bake, gave me an outstanding new book to add to my collection.

Entitled: "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" (the discovery that revolutionizes home baking), it is a terrific addition to my collection! For years I have tried, with little success, to make Italian-style bread, so the first recipe I turned to was on page 81 and it came out beautifully!

Here are the steps in making truly tasty bread that you DON'T have to do:

1. Mix a new batch of dough every time you want to make bread.

2. "Proof" the yeast.

3. Knead the dough.

4. Cover formed loaves.

5. Rest and rise the loaves in a draft-free location - it doesn't matter.

6. Fuss over doubling or tripling of dough volume.

7. Punch down and re-rise.

8. Poke rising loaves to be sure they've proofed by leaving indentations.

This is why the book is titled "Bread in five Minutes a Day" (not including resting and baking time.) I made up enough dough for four one pound loaves and it stores in the refrigerator for up to 12 days -- no problem!

The book is by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois and retails in hard cover at 27.95 and to my way of thinking is worth every penny!

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More and more I am disgusted with the average American's view of the world and what's important.

With the advent of "American Idol" it became evident what most Americans consider important -- being "entertained".

When a program like "Idol" overwhelmingly outdraws presidential debates it says something about our psyche.

The latest? We are all agog over Sarah Palin's glasses. The TV talking heads were covering it again today. Is this really worth any coverage at all?

Word is that women are rushing out and buying the exact or similar style eyeglasses by the droves. Whoppee!

Meanwhile, that damn war and suffering continues unabated in Iraq and Afghanistan and gets minimal if any coverage on the national news.

New Orleans still struggles to regain its balance and our economy is in the toilet. But have you seen Sarah Palin's glasses?

No wonder Europeans think that Americans are self-absorbed imbeciles. We are.

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