There’s just something about the smell and taste of homemade bread…
I was out of town in business meetings for a few days and all of our meals were catered. Although it was nice not to have to cook my own meals for a few days, I missed BYOB. I’ve been spoiled with all of the homemade bread I usually have around for sandwiches or to serve with a meal. The breads that were served in our meetings were definitely not freshly baked. Definitely not BYOB! I’m so glad to be back in the company of delicious homemade bread.
What is BYOB?
The idea behind BYOB is that instead of running to the store to buy a loaf of bread, pastry or sandwich buns, you make them yourself.
- For more details or to participate in BYOB in 2011, click here.
- To view the list of homebakers participating in this adventure, click here.
Let’s take a look at the delicious and satisfying breads the BYOB bakers made in March. We have some very creative bakers out there. I’ve been learning a lot from the BYOB bakers each month. I’m sure you will too.
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Marion in the United Kingdom starts us out. She made coriander half and half bread and toasted the coriander dry till they began to dance. She also used a teaspoon of marmalade instead of sugar for the yeast. She said “I thoroughly enjoyed myself – very creative experience, calming to the soul.” I’d say.
Then she made fresh rosemary and parmesan bread and rolls and some plain white bread.
This is how Michele of The Beauty of Life describes her bread experience: “When life gets crazy I make bread. When I need a break, marching into the kitchen to bake seems completely logical…I fall victim to fragrant hot steamy bread. It is simple and satisfying.” Indeed!
Abby of Mix It Bake It Stir It decided to conquer her fear of frying by making some homemade donuts. Then, she conquered another fear: making puff pastry. She also made some homemade naan. Sounds like she had some very empowering baking experiences this past month.
Tikka masala and naan
Gayathri of Gayathri’s Cook Spot delights us with an assortment of lovely breads and other baked goods. She made a beautiful eggless cake for her 200th blog post. What a great way to celebrate reaching this milestone. Way to go!
Mini Mint Rolls With Mint Spread
Eggless Dates and Pumpkin Seeds Cake
Priya of http://eq-myblog.blogspot.com/ didn’t bake any bread this month so she decided to share a few cookies from her hearth. We’ll take them! Yum!
Heather of girlichef got a little “sandwiched-out” as she put it, but she still managed to make some delicious and healthy breads. Looking good.
Banana Cardamom Sandwich Bread
Jacqueline of Designing my Day has been busy supporting other amateur bakers with their bread baking. She and her husband organized a not-for-profit group called the Chicago Amateur Bread Bakers. A very worthy cause indeed!
Words of Encouragement for New Bread Bakers
Recap of the March Taste-and-Tell
Pam of Pam’s Bread made some very healthy breads using the soaking method. I’ve heard a lot about this method. Check out her posts to see it in action.
Bread with Whole Wheat, Emmer, and Mesquite Flours using Soaking Method
High Protein Whole Wheat Bread
Rugbrød, Denmark’s Traditional Whole-Grain Rye Bread using soaking method
Champa of Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen made a wonderful assortment of baked goods from her vegetarian kitchen. Beautiful photos! Delicious treats!
Whole Wheat Savory Crescent Rolls
Verity of Nice Life With a Cup of Tea made some sensationally tasty No-Knead Sourdough Bread and even included an easy tutorial.
Andrea of Family & Food made a bunch of delicious treats and created this collection to showcase them. She did a great job on the Panda Bread!
Here are the links to the goodies featured in the collage:
Whole-Spelt Levain
Sunflower Seed Bread with Rye Sourdough
Aloo Paratha
Gruyère, Scallion and Walnut Tart
Swiss Onion Tart
No-Roll Flaky Dough
Tomato Cantal Tart
Golden Almond (Pecan) Bars
The Original Chocolate Chip Cookie
Chicken Empanadas
Abby’s “Cheese Hoppers” by Emeril Lagasse
Panda Bread
Cindy from Cedar Park, TX said that one of the things she tries to do each month is add another bread to her repertoire. This month she decided to stop buying the Blueberry Muffin mix from the grocery store and began making them from scratch. She tried the basic muffin recipe from the Better Homes and Garden recipe book. Her first attempt using frozen blueberries turned out okay but not quite sweet enough. So she added more sugar the second time and got a nice muffin that’s not too sweet. Sounds Yummy!
Here are the breads she baked during March:
Blueberry Muffins
Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Scones
Amish bread
Pizza crust
Challah with Raisins
Swathi from Zesty South Indian Kitchen made some delicious-looking rye bread and other breads. She said that “rye breads have one problem, they require an acquired taste.” I agree. I’m still working on that.
No knead 100% whole wheat bread
Yeasted coffee cake with guava paste, cream cheese with meringue filling
Kathy from Derwood, Maryland was busy baking this month. She didn’t get photos because her camera finally stopped working. I know the feeling.
Here are the breads and other goodies she baked in March:
Honey Oatmeal Bread
Golden Pita Bread
Sfincione
Ham and Cheddar Rolls
Angel Biscuits
White Pullman Loaf
Pretzels
Crumb Cakes
Melanie of Mel’s Home Baking Adventures was busy making breads for the Mellow Bakers and Bread Baking Day. Check out the sand-dollar scoring pattern on the whole wheat Levain. Lovely! She also made some yummy cookies! Mmmmm.
Chocolate Chip-Hazelnut Cookies
Cinnamon-Raisin Buttermilk Bread
Hanna of MyBreadBakingExperiences has been baking bread to keep her spirits up. She baked a batch of light whole wheat everyday bread and made another loaf with oatmeal in and on the outside. Her camera isn’t working so she was unable to take a photo. Hanna our thoughts and prayers are with you in your time of need.
Krista of The Beet Reporter made some honey wheat bread and wanted to share it! She also made some other yummy goodies. I’ve never had Mac & Cheese Pizza but it sounds great.
Honey Wheat Bread
Mac & Cheese Pizza
Rosemary Bagels
Apple, Rosemary and Vanilla Muffins
Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut butter frosting
Jill of BakingBread-101.com has joined in the fun with a delicious Apple Bread. She calls it “Apple Bread so Scrumptious You’ll Bake Extra!” I like that. View her post here http://www.bakingbread-101.com/applebread.html.
Soepkipje created a collage of all the beautiful breads she made in March. View the full-size collage and photos here http://www.ipernity.com/doc/soepkipje/10303488
I ran out of time before I could make all the breads I wanted to in March, but I did manage to make some. Here are a few of my favorites.
Spelt Bread with Multigrain Soaker
Einkorn Oatmeal Bread Machine Bread
Thanks for another great month of baking.
Until next month, BYOB!
~Cathy
Abby says
Beautiful round-up, Cathy! Thanks for organizing and posting…can’t believe all of the mouth-watering and unique sounding breads!
Champa says
Lot of work Cathy. Thanks for doing this.
susies1955 says
Wow, so tasty looking. 🙂
Susie
girlichef says
Big, beautiful roundup…so many things I want to try! Thanks so much for your hard work, Cathy =)
Elizabeth Williams says
Cathy, thankyou for your prayers, thoughts and beautiful sentiment for my difficult situation. I know I’m not alone in my struggle as there are many mothers even now going through these kinds of things.
“Bread is a staple and life goes on but never the same as before.” Hanna
Swathi says
Beautiful round up Cathy, Thanks for your hard work I have to try your Maori bread for sure.
Pam De Voe says
So, Cathy, I have a question (showing my complete ignorance of bread making and its process 🙂 — Swathi made a sourdough & called a part of the process in making it a sponge. Is a sponge the same thing as the sourdough starter?
Pam De Voe says
Oops, it wasn’t Swathi, but Verity who did the tutorial on making sourdough. Mixed it up with Swathi, who did rye – which I had also used in my sourdough bread this past week.
Priya Sreeram says
cathy a great round-up and i agree with swathi, the hard-work u put in is tremendous and is hugely appreciated !!
Melanie says
Wow, so many wonderful baked goods this month. So many I would like to try. Thank you Cathy for putting this together even with being so busy. Glad you are back!
Cathy (breadexperience) says
Pam, a sponge is different from a sourdough starter. It is a preferment that is created before the final dough and left to sponge (or ferment for several hours to overnight) to help enhance the flavor and texture of the bread. It is mixed with the final dough before the bulk fermentation.