I am hoping that we won't get any more frost this year, though a couple of degrees of frost is probably less damaging to Pear blossom than strong winds and heavy rain. We haven't had much rain for quite a while now, and I have actually been out with the hosepipe to give the fruit trees a good soaking.
At least it looks as if pollination won't be a problem...
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P.S. Yesterday I had my first-ever go at bread-making. The other day we bought a copy of Paul Hollywood's inspirational book "Bread", and it definitely made me want to try my hand at this skill. Now, as you probably know, I'm not normally one for slavishly sticking to a recipe, but Jane had told me in no uncertain terms that "baking is a science, not an art", so I decided to follow Paul's recipe precisely. He suggests that a novice baker should start by baking a white Bloomer loaf, so that is exactly what I did. This was the result:
I have to say that Paul's recipe was very clear and easy to follow. If I can make a loaf like that on my first attempt, he must be a magician!
We ate a slice of the bread about an hour after it was cooked, with lots of butter on it. It was amazingly tasty, and though I say it myself, the balance between crispy crust and springy crumb was perfect. Later on, we ate more of it as a starter with our dinner - pieces dipped in our best olive oil, with a few drops of balsamic vinegar. Then this morning, with home-made Seville orange marmalade... As Jane said to me "home-made bread just doesn't keep, you know!" :-)
I'm hoping we all get a good fruit year this year, there seems to be plenty of blossom around, and it's later than it was last year so hopefully won't get caught by frost. Well done on the bread making, it looks like a very well made loaf. I cheat and use my bread maker for making the dough, but then bake it in the oven.
ReplyDeleteThat's the way we often make bread too! Making it by hand is quite time-consuming - but worthwhile if you're not in a hurry, I reckon.
DeleteI really enjoyed watching his series & have promised to buy the book myself. I tend to chuck my ingredients into the bread maker & let it do its magic. I have one pear tree covered in blossom whilst the other is still unfurling its leaves slowly. Your bread does look lovely.
ReplyDeleteJo; I was amazed at the difference between machine-made (which we do most of the time) and hand-made bread. The hand-made one was just so tasty - and the texture was very different too: sort of "elastic", and sprang back into shape when you squeezed it, unlike some of the commercial ones which are still doughy.
Deleteso no "Bingo Wings" for you now then Mark
ReplyDeleteMartyn is our breadmaker and when we have more time is wanting to get 'into' soudough. Maybe a winter pursuit.
ReplyDeleteI was distracted and wanted to comment about pears. Our trees had loads of blossom last year which set but once the weather turned bad all the baby pears dropped off. We have blossom again but wil we get pears?
DeleteIt made me smile reading about Jane's comments.:) But the bread, for a first-timer is really good. I do a bit of baking myself and my first breads were nowhere near yours!
ReplyDeleteThe pear blossoms are very pretty. The pictures reminded me of our tree (when we were kids) in our garden. But the pears in the north-east are rather tart. These must be sweet, I guess?
Very nice photographs of the P ear blossoms Mark and nice to see a bee in amongst them. My fruit trees are fairly well in blossom the best being my Cherry tree. It will be the first year for Cherries with the right weather.
ReplyDeleteThose pear blossoms are gorgeous...hope you get loads of pears. My, but that bread looked wonderful. You did a great job!
ReplyDeleteIf that was your first attempt at breadmaking you have done really well - what a great loaf. I made some Parkin from a recipe of PH's Bread book - it was awful - turns out that flour had been left out of the recipe - so beware.
ReplyDeleteSimply exquisite photos Mark,
ReplyDeleteThe blossoms are enough without the pears surely? No?
Okay well pears would just be the cherry on the top wouldn't they? Although that doesn't sound right! ;D
Your bread looks fantastic and Jane is right...it just wouldn't keep so just go forth and enjoy. I know I would :D
Beautiful! My pear blossoms are pink. I must say that I'm a big fan of artisan breads, I used to bake bread with rye leaven, but now my mom bakes a fantastic bread with spelt flour. It's healthy and takes less time to prepare than the rye bread.
ReplyDelete