For this experience, I explored a variety of bread recipes during my co-op at Eaton from January to April 2024. This was a great Honors experience to work on while co-oping in chilly Pittsburgh. My outdoor activities were limited because of the winter weather, so I spent a lot of time indoors trying new recipes. This was also a great way to spend evenings after work. Baking bread is a long process, as the bread is often required to rise twice. So, baking became a productive hobby during weekends when the rain and snow prevented me from exploring Pittsburgh. I’ve included pictures below of some of my bread recipes below.
After talking with a coworker who loves making sourdough focaccia, I began baking focaccia with yeast. Since then, I have made five or six different variations of focaccia recipes with fresh rosemary, tomatoes, or dried rosemary, and increasingly expensive and fancy salt varieties. I found that Maldon flaky salt proves to be the best topping, although it is a pricy spice at $8 a box. I’ve brought my focaccia loaves to a wide variety of events during the past few months – it’s great for picnics and charcuterie boards.
My confidence in cooking grew greatly as a result of this project, and I’ve found that it’s most rewarding to share my baking endeavors at potluck dinners with friends. Whether cooking at my apartment in Pittsburgh or in my family’s house in Ohio, I have tapped into a joy of sharing my creations with others.
Many, many focaccia explorations. Focaccia has become my new default to bring as a snack for events or meals. I've made focaccia for picnics with friends, church lunches, and as a snack for book clubs. The more hours and days that I let the dough rise in the fridge, the better the bubbles and the quality of the bread turns out.
Challah, pictured above. I decided to make challah in order to use up the rest of a carton of eggs while on co-op solo living in my apartment. Absolutely delicious, I demolished this loaf.
Other bread explorations (I made a ton of biscuits, as well as cornbread and these sculpted dinner roll birds).
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