Also made the pizza crust from the bread bible. Didn’t taste it, but both parents said they liked it.

I did a horrible job dicing half of the onion, so there were several large pieces of onion in the soup. I didn’t particularly like the look of it and was hesitant about the taste, but it was scarf-it-down delicious.

I also used tomato sauce instead of tomato puree, and that was no problem. I never have garlic cloves around, so I used the minced garlic that comes in a jar. I tossed in about three teaspoons .

I also forgot to garnish with parmesan.

It made about eight cups of sauce, which I put in a jar and saved in the fridge. I assume it will keep for at least a few days. I might freeze some just to be safe.

I passed the recipe on to my parents. I think they’re excited to try it, especially after I talked it up for twenty minutes. It was seriously amazing and one of my new favorite meals.

Per the description on the website: “Monterey Jack flavored with California black olives, sun dried tomatoes, sweet basil & garlic.”

My mother came home from the grocery store with a wedge of this cheese and we’ve been munching on it ever since. We mainly put it on a slice of French bread that has been drizzled with olive oil, but it stands alone as well.

It’s the first cheese I’ve tasted from the Rumiano company but now I’m eager to try all of their offerings.

I used the ciabatta bread I made yesterday instead of French bread and it seemed to work well. I got impatient when browning the bread in the cast iron skillet, so I put it into the oven a little earlier. I also only did 5 minutes on each side in the oven.

On first bite, I thought it tasted like normal French toast. My mother said it was a little bit different, though. I think it would be a good recipe to make if there were a lot of people to feed, but for myself or a couple of people I think I’ll stick with the regular way.

I made the poolish the day before and forgot about it, so it sat out two hours longer than the recipe called for. It was nice and bubbly and large, though, so I figured it would be fine.

I mixed the bread the next day and used the mixer for the entire job for the first time. I used more water than called for, but I have the feeling that I also used more poolish as well. It mixed up nicely and I made my bed of flour, let it rest for a moment, and then did my first stretch and fold. It was so easy and it looked amazing after I was finished.

I let it rest for an hour instead of 30 minutes because it didn’t look like it had grown at all after thirty. My parents keep the house much lower than what he calls room temperature in the book, so I always factor in more time.

The second stretch and fold didn’t work out as well and the results were not pretty. Instead of messing with the dough more, I decided to let it be.

When I cut the dough into thirds, I didn’t do a good job at making them equal. It didn’t matter, though, because there wasn’t enough room on the baking stone for all three pieces anyway. I decided to freeze one and bake the other two.

I forgot to put a towel over the door during the steam treatment, but I got lucky and nothing bad happened. I sprayed the sides of the oven three times, as told, and then let it bake.

My thermometer got water in it and stopped working, so I took the loaves out when they looked done.

We cut into one bread immediately (against his advice) and it was delicious. The crumb was pretty tight, so I was a little disappointed I didn’t get the big holes. We waited to cut into the other loaf this morning and there were a lot of little holes, so I was happy.

Overall, I loved the bread. I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting more used to making bread or that I used the mixer for most of the work, but it was the easiest loaf. I have yet to be disappointed by a recipe in this book.

I put the brisket in the marinade half-frozen and I also altered the amount of each ingredient, since my brisket was less than 3 pounds.

It took about 5 hours to cook at 300 degrees, which was significantly more than the recipe indicated. But it came out fork-tender and my mother said it was 5 stars. I liked it as well as I like any other brisket recipe I’ve used.

I wasn’t feeling well this morning, so I kind of half-assed this one. I didn’t let the onions get translucent nor did I wait for them to be a deep brown. I also used cooking wine (I know, but it’s all I had) which probably affected the taste. I used parmesan cheese, as well.

I didn’t eat more than a few bites, because I wasn’t feeling well. I didn’t love the taste, but I might give it another chance I’m not suffering from a cold. We had a ton leftover, so I’ll have another chance. My parents both said it tasted like French Onion Soup, but I don’t think either were in love with it.

All in all, rather disappointing. I love Panera’s version of the soup, but I ate it so often during a hard time in my life that it’s ruined for me. I’m dying to find an approximation of it that doesn’t remind me of hospitals and sadness.

Kneading it was a little difficult, but it was kind of fun to incorporate the raisins and walnut. It smelled wonderful as I was kneading, so that was helpful. I did make it a little too sticky, so kneading took longer as I tried to get it to the right consistency.

I tried to add the cinnamon swirl, which is visible but smaller than I wanted. I also added the cinnamon sugar on the top, but I didn’t roll the loaf. I just drizzled it with butter, brushed it across the top, and then sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top.

I haven’t tasted it yet, but both of my parents have and they both enjoyed it. My mother said it was just the right amount of sweet.

The first batch didn’t rise because I used the wrong yeast. Luckily my mother had bought the yeast for bread machines, so I made another batch.

It seemed like it took forever to rise. I put it in the refrigerator without degassing it, so I went up a few hours later to do that. The next morning I made the second part and it seemed to rise faster.

Forming the baguettes was somewhat difficult and they weren’t particularly attractive after baking. I didn’t have a way to measure and make sure they were the same size, so I eyed it and it didn’t seem to work.

They cooked quickly and the crust (created by the steam bath and then the sprays afterwards) was pretty crunchy. The bread tasted wonderful with butter or toasted and drizzled with olive oil and topped with cheese.

I’m using the last baguette for French Onion Soup tomorrow and I’m really looking forward to it.