Tolkien and Trees

...abashed partisan of trees. A couple of quotes from him regarding trees are making the rounds on the internet, but I’ve learned to distrust popular quotations. They are often misattributed or downright made up. So I searched his edited letters for references to trees. There are many–he always mentions trees when he describes places, has funny things to say about artists who can’t draw trees, and has many trees of significance in his books, which he...

Read…

Josey Baker whole / wild / wet / slow / bold

...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9pAObqHzXI The bread nerd club I co-founded, the Los Angeles Bread Bakers, brought Josey Baker down to LA to teach a class. Now you can watch a version that very same class via Youtube for freeeeeee. I’m a huge fan of his method and his book Josey Baker Bread. If you’re interested in making your own bread skip the Netflix tonight and get whole, wild, wet, slow and bold....

Read…

Make Your Own Molding With a Table Saw

...convenience of being able to easily hang and move around pictures without making a lot of holes. Should you wish to join the table saw cult, I’d recommend getting a SawStop table saw. I have an inexpensive Delta table saw that works fine, but I had a chance to use a SawStop during a class and they seem well made in addition to their unique finger-saving safety feature. If you do not have space for a table saw or other power tools, one of the best...

Read…

Timing Sourdough Feeding

...ecent sourdough bread: the amount of time between feeding your starter and making your dough. I keep a small amount of starter on hand since I bake, at most, twice a week under normal circumstances (Under quarantine I’m baking a lot more but the reasons for that would be the subject of another blog post). Just before I go to bed, the night before I’m going to make bread, I take a tablespoon of starer and add it to 50 grams of whole wheat flour and...

Read…

What to Do With Junk Mail and Shredded Paper

...part interview with Kreigh Hampel, recycling coordinator for the city of Burbank if you’d like to get the lowdown on what it’s like on the receiving end of all our garbage (Part 1, Part 2). And the possibility of a trade ware with China may make things even more complicated. China no longer wants our trash. So what to do about reducing paper waste at the source aside from the obvious (sign up for paperless bills). The Data & Marketing Association...

Read…