More hypocrisy--and more bread

originally posted 4/30/06 on another blog

With gas prices at the pump going higher and higher, and the primary elections on Tuesday, the political rhetoric is flying fast and furious--and watching politicians suddenly posturing about alternatives and talking about needing to investigate the oil companies to see if they might be profiteering (!!!! I guess that 49% rise in profits announced last week for Chevron, and the record 8.4 billion dollars in profit for Exxon Mobile, were both purely accidental)--and this from people like Senator Frist who saw no need to explore how energy companies coordinated prices or even to question the administration's energy policies only a few months ago, and who've taken record contributions from energy companies and their lobbyists. And, of course, much of this is to distract us all from the spectacle of an Administration adrift on all fronts, led by a man who can barely keep his eyes open at the White House Correspondents' Dinner last night--
probably not hearing Stephen Colbert
But the best political hypocrisy of the week (at least on a national level--the battle for the Republican nomination for the Ohio governor's race has had both major candidates, J. Kenneth Blackwell and Jim Petro, labelling each other hypocrites in a barrage of television commercials all week. And, of course, they're both right) goes to House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Who this week made a pitch for hydrogen powered vehicles in Washington. Here he is riding in one:

And here he is, thinking he's out of camera range, leaving the hydrogen-powered car and getting into his SUV--his gas-guzzling SUV, provided by the government--to be taken the several blocks back to the Capitol.


It's so patently more of the same practice perfected by President Bush and his Rovian band of merry men: do the photo op suggesting one thing, then once the cameras are gone, revert to your old practice--assuming the image is more important than the actuality.

So it was a relief to get back to the actuality of bread--and at least the bread worked this time--a mixed grain whole wheat for the baker for whom I am one of a couple of hundred volunteer recipe testers. This is a multi-grain; last time I tried it, it was far too soft. Still a softer bread than we normally like, but good flavor, and pretty good development. Almost entirely whole wheat flour, with a little bit of cornmeal, oats, and (in this try) some barley flour.
a low loaf, but with a slight dome
it makes good sandwiches and toast

and has a decent crumb

Divas, local politics, and bread again

originally posted elsewhere in March, 2006

Three events over the weekend: divas, politics, and bread. First: the divas. Old friend Luke Yankee came in to do his one-person show, Diva Dish, as a benefit for the Eileen Heckart Scholarship Fund at Ohio State. Luke's mother was Eileen Heckart,

Eileen Heckart

the celebrated Broadway actress, winner of Oscar, Tony, Emmies, more awards than can listed, and a central Ohio native and Ohio State alumna. Luke's put together a warm tribute show, telling the many (and wonderful) stories he heard and witnessed growing up as her son.

Eileen and Luke

He performed three times, to enthusiastic crowds, and Ann and I were able to spend some time with him at lunch, and at a reception following the Saturday night show. Luke's also published a book that puts the stories into literary form, Just Outside the Spotlight; it's terrific reading.

More about the show, the book, and Luke himself at http://www.divadish.net/ and at www.lukeyankee.com Eileen was a wonderful actress and great to know, and Luke's terrific in his own right.

Also got to spend a little time with our neighbor, Jan Fleming, now a candidate for the Ohio House of Representatives; see http://www.janfleming.com/ We knew Jan by sight from seeing her running down the street, but really met her through the Kerry campaign and the organization of Uptown Progressives in the past year. She'll make a wonderful state rep, with her background in both higher education and in banking--what a combination! Here's me and Jan at her campaign kickoff party earlier this year:

Alan and Jan schmooze

Then I also continued on my bread recipe testing experiments, following Peter Reinhart's recipes as he develops a new book on whole wheat braed (and there's a great deal more about that whole process at his blog, http://peterreinhart.typepad.com/ Here are some photos of yesterday's bread, a multi-grain loaf. Far too soft, as you can see from the 'shaped' loaf. But a great tasting bread, even if it remained moist (all right, wet) in the middle. Will try again, with more flour and less than the original recipe calls for.

the shaped loaf in the pan: very soft!


it was so soft it stuck to the pan

too moist!

Ah well. All good events, good people, and good (tasting) bread that's now terrific bruschetta. A welcome distraction from the leak follies happening in Washington!!

Easter--and bread

originally posted elsewhere 2006
Now it's Easter Monday. The Christian holiday always makes me think of the sharp distinction between the message in the Christian New Testament, and what contemporary American 'Christians' say and do. Perhaps very well expressed in a post on Daily Kos on Saturday, http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/4/15/6556/58209
that I recommend. And the news of the translation and publication of the 'Gospel of Judas' -- along with the earlier 'gospels' of Thomas and Mary Magdalene -- is a reminder of just have politically and historically determined are both the content and structure of the Christian Scriptures. Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne has an interesting column on the Judas 'Gospel'--see it at http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/3795204.html
And how those same Scriptures are used to justify intolerance, injustice, wars, torture, and so forth--all the things that the Jesus portrayed in the Scriptures spoke against. Mark Twain's savage satire of a war prayer still, sadly, remains all too apt. For the full text of Twain's satire, go to http://www.libertystory.net/LSDOCTWAINWARPRAYER.htm

Easter also brings thoughts of bread. And since I'm baking these days to test recipes for a forthcoming book of whole wheat bread (I'm one of some 250 testers, so it's hardly very special!), here are some photos of the most recent experiment: entirely whole wheat flour. Great taste!
cooling on the rack

in profile; didn't dome as well as it could have

and great crumb!

The First Bread

A contest on the Year in Bread blog (http://ayearinbread.earthandhearth.com/) asks for our favorite bread stories; here's mine:

I first started baking bread when we were poor graduate students; it made sense financially, and also psychologically--kneading (make that pounding) the dough took out a lot of frustrations built up from classes with conservative professors (this was the late 1960s). After doing ok with white bread, I decided to move on to whole wheat. Without Peter Reinhard to guide me, or Bernard Clayton, or King Arthur, I plowed ahead, making a dough of whole wheat flour rather than white. Only whole wheat. It never occured to me that some mixture of white and whole wheat would be a good idea. And, of course, I was using Gold Medal off the shelf. Really a rank, rank beginner.

I baked the bread. I had two loaves of small, grey, bricks. Heavy, solid. And essentially unedible. My loving bride took one taste and said, diplomatically, "I'm sure you'll do better next time." I took one taste and contemplated throwing out my loaf pans and breaking my rolling pin across my knees.

Luckily, at that point, two neighbors arrived, along with another graduate student. They'd all been drinking, and perhaps something else as well, it being the late 1960s, and were giddy. And hungry. I offered the bread. They devoured it, both loaves, among three people, in less than an hour.

And I learned a basic lesson, both for baking and for life: no matter how much you screw something up, there will always be people who think it's terrific. You just need to find them.