acme's herb slabs

This is my second attempt at Acme's Herb Slabs from Maggie Glezer's Artisan Baking. In my previous preparation I omitted the fresh rosemary because of objections by C. who likes his focaccia simple. But since I now have an overabundance of rosemary in my garden, I made one of the loaves with rosemary (as the recipe instructs). However, I didn't add it until I was shaping the loaf (instead of during the initial mixing) and so the rosemary flavor didn't really permeate the bread the way I had hoped. It didn't stop everyone from scarfing it down though!

blitz bread

Tonight I made "Blitz Bread" from the Baker's Banter, King Arthur Flour's blog. It's a quick-rising bread -- focaccia style -- thanks to a full tablespoon of yeast. I added about a cup of feta cheese and sprinkled a mixture of Italian herbs (oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, savory and sage) over the top. It was very moist and smelled great. It wasn't really my taste in breads -- I tend to like the more large-crumb rustic crusty types -- but it was quick and very popular with the guys (L & P).

fresh blueberry tart

We recently purchased a new refrigerator and as anyone whose voluntarily gotten a new fridge and disposed of an old functioning fridge at the same time knows, it's a nuisance keeping everything cold during the interim while the new fridge is cooling down (Whirlpool says to wait 24 hours before putting food in the new fridge). So we spent weeks prior to taking delivery trying to eat down the food in the old refrigerator and freezer. What I'm getting at is this: no baking and no dessert making. And I've missed it.

This morning, I baked a rustic blueberry tart (recipe courtesy of Baking Illustrated) to take advantage of the wealth of fresh New Jersey blueberries that have been appearing in our local supermarkets. We haven't eaten it yet but I'm really eager to taste it, accompanied by some homemade vanilla ice cream. Happy Independence Day!