leslee roberts :: shouting into the wind

croissants

i remember vividly my honeymoon in paris back in 1974. we stayed at a tiny little hotel near the eiffel tower where no one spoke english. every morning, we would go downstairs to the lobby area for breakfast - a basket of croissants, pitchers of coffee and steamed milk for cafe au lait, fresh butter, jam and applesauce. i have never found anything which comes close to those memorable breakfasts.

i took another baking class at sur la table last weekend -- croissants. something i don't intend to bake at home any time in the near future but it was fun to see all the zillions of steps it takes to make this delicious eat.

unfortunately, i have no pictures of our finished croissants (chocolate, ham & gruyere cheese and classic) as we all ate them up so quickly, it didn't even occur to me to stop and snap a pic!

tuscany 2010

spinning and plying completed. just need to wash and set.

I really liked this

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON from Dean Fleischer-Camp on Vimeo.

picture worthy bread

i recently took a sourdough bread class at sur la table with chef mike kalanty. It was a great class and although i still need a lot of practice doing the sourdough, i did learn how to develop the dough under his watchful eye. this is what i had considered kneading but there are a couple of techniques i learned in class on how to handle the dough. i picked up his book, How to Bake Bread - The Five Families of Bread. it is fantastic!

i used that new experience and worked on the master recipe (boule) in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. my first try was edible but the crust was not great. here is my second try:

spinning in progress

fiber by butterfly girl designs: tuscany
purchased 9 ounces (3 batts) 9/14/2009

- 60% bamboo
- 30% superwash merino
- 10% nylon firestar

begun spinning 09/2010 on journey wheel

around the world

my holiday wheel by SpinAway has been traveling with me over the last few months and this fiber has traveled right along with her.

- butternut woolens
- 100% bluefaced leicester wool
- hand-dyed combed top
- approximately 16 oz

spun and plied on my SpinAway holiday wheel between April 2010 through August 2010

- began spinning during my cruise to Italy, Croatia, Turkey, Greece and Sicily
- continued spinning in San Francisco, California
- finished spinning in Rainier, Washington
- began plying in Rainier, Washington
- finished plying in San Francisco, California

produced 2-ply fingering, approximately 1,237 yards (5 skeins)