Those of us who bake bread at home are constantly looking for ways to utilize the excess bread starter. I personally believe that there should be no “discarding” of the starter. If you are in a good baking rhythm and the starter is mature and vigorous, there is no need to feed your starter daily, only […]

Bagels are one of my most favorite things to eat.  They are so versatile, so forgiving; they go with anything — from smoked white fish to jam — and never complain.  You can eat them by themselves just fine or slather with butter or cream cheese, and you’ve got yourself a meal. New York style […]

From time to time, abiding by the unbending code of conduct of first generation transplants, I succumb to strong nostalgic cravings.  In case you are not the first generation transplant, let me explain.  I refer to craving foods I can’t have because there is no place to get them — either they no longer exist or […]

Borodinsky bread is my childhood staple food.  We had it practically every day and never grew tired of it. The aroma, the well balanced sweet and sour, the substantial “meaty” crumb and thin glossy crust — should I go on listing all the wonderful things that put this loaf in the bread hall-of-fame? Nowadays, it […]

If you are into bread baking, as I am, you probably know by now that finding the right kind of flour is a very important task.  Using predictable, good quality flour is key in getting predictable, good quality bread loaves day after day.  The task becomes doubly challenging if you are trying to stay away […]

We didn’t have a lot of cookies growing up. This whole love affair with cookies is more of an American phenomenon.  What we did have was  more like crackers — dry and crunchy things of various shapes, flavors and colors, which my grandpa in the very old-fashioned way called biscuits. We loved them.  When I […]

Gosh, I got so excited yesterday while typing up the 12-Kopeck Sugar Buns, that it put me in the next bout of cravings immediately — bagels.  Pfft, you may say, what’s so special about bagels? You can get them anywhere.  Well, that’s just the thing: first of all, there are no *good* bagels in 80 […]