Herr Kaiser Roll

DPO who?
Really... I'm not dead just been supremely busy like everyone else.
Along the way I've participated in the DPO household's Great Bread Experiment.
Would you like to participate too?
1. Buy "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" book
2. Read the ENTIRE book (yes, recipes included)
3. Think about which bread you're really capable of trying first
4. Hunt down ingredients
5. Make your starter for said bread
6. Forget about starter for 3 weeks
7. Throw it away and start again
8. Follow your first bread recipe (well 2nd since technically the starter is a recipe too)

I tried making kaiser rolls. I will say they came out very well. I didn't have the exact shape of the traditional kaiser (with the crown-like lines) and they weren't glossy BUT they were crackly crust, soft chewy guts and had a lovely flavor. I think if I made them again I would double the formula because it's a LOT of work for 6 rolls.

In other news I bought a kitchen scale. The reviews of this particular model were fair to middling and I've had no troubles with it... I could see if you use large bowls or microscopic amounts of ingredients where it would be inconvenient. The display is tiled up for easy reading but if a large bowl were covering it you wouldn't be able to read it.
When I bought the scale, the manager of the local bed bath & beyond ("stay away from that beyond section") assisted me. Pleasant enough man, however his concept of me using the scale to weigh ingredients for creating a new food (and a CARB at that!!) was unheard of... "Really? You weigh the flour instead of using a measuring cup?" Uh yeah... what do you use a kitchen scale for? He and his wife weigh their food before it is consumed. He didn't elaborate and I thought it would be prying to inquire further. Since then, I've wondered why would you do that? Pure curiosity? I get that. The first thing I did with my scale is find out how much everything in my kitchen weighed from my glass of wine to mailers on their way to recycle-land. Mister did the same thing when he got home. "Cool. How much does my sharp pointy stick thing of doom weigh?" I've heard of some exercise enthusiasts weighing their food to keep track of how much they consume and to keep portion size consistent. I wonder do they weigh their poo to see how much of the food their body uses?
Wait.
I don't want to know.
Read "Handbook of Hedonism" it's entertaining and I share a lot of the opinions in it. You want to eat it, eat it but don't get pissy when you get fat. It's your own damn fault.
k
going away now
tty in another month