This is actually the second recipe I tried, but it was new...and several other "new" things happened because of it...
Here is my French Boule loaf, scallop cut and waiting for the pans in the oven to preheat.
When I went to "slide it right off" the cornstarch covered plate, it flipped over on its beautifully scalloped top...ANNOYING...I ended up grabbing it off the 450 degree pan and flipping it over with my hands.
I then poured the hot water into the steam pan that had also been preheating...unthinkingly, I'd used a glass pan...don't do it...in only a matter of seconds I had THIS.
In spite of how many times I've vacuumed and swept since then, I'm STILL finding little shards of my pyrex dish...
Thad swooped in, inspected the bread for glass shards, and helped me figure things out so we had bread anyway...
And OH MY, it was DELICIOUS.
Crispy outside and soft, warm center...with a slight sourdough taste...
But the story doesn't end there. My oven was still full of glass, and also rather dirty to begin with, as you can see from the pictures... (At least I'm not responsible for how dirty it is, though I AM responsible for not having cleaned it EVER in the last 6 months.)
I looked up DIY oven cleaners and mixed up a lovely paste of vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice. After letting it sit all day, I spent an hour and a half (I was also watching a movie) scrubbing out the oven.
With the oven nicely cleaned, and knowledge about pyrex dishes well learned, I set about to bake a few more loaves of bread.
In the meantime, I'd talked to the friend who recommended the book about my pyrex shattering experience. She mentioned that she was pretty sure she burned out her oven with how much she baked bread when she first got the book (it's baked at 450 degrees, you see), but when I told Thad, he scoffed and said it was probably because she had junk on her element and it got a hot spot and burned out.
Back to the bread...No flipping the loaves over, no exploding pans, just nicely baking in the oven, and me stirring ravioli on the stove...
When suddenly, I look down through the oven window and see a white hot spot sparking and flaming on the lower oven element...
You guessed it! My oven element burned out!!! I'm pretty sure there must have still been baking soda paste on the element from my cleaning escapades, but Thad insists that I'm not allowed to think it was my fault...
I finished baking the bread using the broiler...so it was interesting...and we even found a new oven element for less than $20 (major blessing!), but this has definitely been the most EVENTFUL new thing I've tried so far!
P.S. I've tried the new things every week, but with our camera out of commission, the pictures are on Thad's phone...and I only remember that I need to get them OFF his phone when he's gone...so check back and make sure you catch the posts for the past few weeks too!
P.S. I've tried the new things every week, but with our camera out of commission, the pictures are on Thad's phone...and I only remember that I need to get them OFF his phone when he's gone...so check back and make sure you catch the posts for the past few weeks too!
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