The Doubling Line

      When I joined the new bread baking blog along, Bread Baker's Apprentice, I joined because I wanted to learn how to bake bread and also because a few of my fellow Tuesdays with Dorie bakers were joining and encouraging me to do so also.  

      I have "met" any number of fun people through the cooking/baking blog alongs.  We all bake/cook with the same people each week, and we all have a lot of fun and giggles when things don't turn out, and celebrate with each other when they do work out, etc.   We have learned about each other, each other's families and jobs, etc. and we all love to feed our families and loved ones! 

      And, then...entered a dangerous thing.  Twitter.  You all know about Twitter?  Twitter is a chit chat group on the internet where members can relay short bits of conversation, sort of like a phone call, only you type it in 140 characters or less.  It's free. 

      Turns out this is very helpful when one is cooking/baking and has questions about a technique, ingredient, subbed ingredient, etc., so I signed up for Twitter (the Whisk Chicks are always up-to-date on these types of things and it is really hard to say "no" when they have a mission).   The dangerous part comes because Clarice (my computer) sits on the counter during the day and as I pass by, I can answer emails, write posts, and chit chat on Twitter about the recipes, etc. A few of us are even timing our baking so that we can chat as we bake together in our own kitchens.  I have limited my following to fellow bakers/cooks who are doing the same recipes that I am doing, so that lessens the dangers of it becoming too time consuming. 

      Last week we were discussing the upcoming bagels for BBA and a few days later, Nancy from Atlanta, sent me a little surprise in the mail...malt powder for the recipe as she knew I wouldn't possibly have a clue what it was, let alone have it on hand.   Very kind and thoughtful of her. 

      This week, Wendy, after a discussion that we were all having about bread rising buckets, again, I was perfectly clueless what that might be and why one might need that, packaged up an extra one that she had, filled it with goodies from TJ's (her "favorite snacks" as she called them) and sent it to me from California.  The bread rising bucket (pictured above) is nice deal...you put your dough in the bucket, which has straight sides and lines for measuring on it, and then you can tell when your dough has "doubled" when it reaches the doubling line.  Takes all the guessing out of the procedure as you can actually see it has doubled in volume.  Judging from the snacks she sent, Wendy likes things HOT! 

     Cathy and I are exchanging things in a very creative and fun way celebrating holidays, like Victoria Day, and National Devil's Food Cake Day, etc., those in the know will giggle about this, those that don't will just think Cathy is an extremely generous person, and she is. 

     Thank you Nancy, Wendy, and Cathy, for being such thoughtful and kind baking buddies.  Friendship, camaraderie, and now gifts...who knew?