Lots of things have been happening lately, I am excited to say! Pietopia has really begun to take new shape. A few things are different this year including two different panels of judges. There will be one panel of food-writers and another panel of bakers. I’m looking for a nice balance between the professional and amateur, both with the writers and the bakers. Check out the Pietopia page here in the blog to read a bit more about what’s happening! There have been some other interesting leads, but I’ll save those tasty tidbits for a later post.

There was a lot of puff pastry dough left over from making those Apricot Danishes, so I used them for little pizzettes. I re-rolled out that dough, made some fresh goat cheese, preheated the oven to 350 degrees F, topped them, and then baked them for 35 minutes. They were delicious! However, I think I have probably eaten more butter this week than I’d care to think about—but it was good while it lasted…

I also made a loaf of french bread the other day I thought I’d share with you. This is my go-to bread, when I need something fresh and baked in my life (or for a meal). In a pinch (or when I’m feeling a bit impatient) I’ll use rapid rise yeast which cuts down the rising time in half–this is super helpful if you have guests coming over or need to take your bread somewhere with you, done and not a messy dough blob. This recipe is just good–spread it with some butter, jam, dip it in olive oil, have as a sandwich, or however you like to eat your bread! Cheers!

Everyday French Bread 1 1/2 packets yeast (regular or rapid rise) 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon salt 2 cups warm water 5 cups all purpose unbleached flour 1 cup whole wheat (preferably pastry) flour

Mix the yeast, sugar, and water. Let stand for about 10 minutes or until foamy. Add the salt and flour, mixing until you can’t mix it any more (or if you are using your stand mixer, attach the bread hook and knead using the hook for about 4 minutes) and knead the dough with your hands for about 10 minutes. Put into a well-oiled bowl, flipping the dough once to get the top coated, cover with a towel and let rise for one hour (30 minutes with rapid rise yeast) or until it has doubled in size. Punch down the dough and let rise again for another hour. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, shape your dough into two long loaves, slash it, sprinkle it with whole wheat flour, and then bake for 35 to 40 minutes.