Surprise!!

I'm back and baking.  My newest creations have been of the oven, the one above being little french loaves baked on stones in my oven.  are you ready for THE SECRET to the smiles on our faces?

It all started when one day, my Dad and I wanted to try to make Indian naan bread for the curry dish we were having that evening.  I had made pita bread in the oven a few times at BYU and thought seriously, naan bread couldn't be too much different.  With a little magic that only google and youtube can provide, I had a recipe for naan bread and a step by step instructional video on how to do it in your kitchen.  The only thing I lacked was a baking stone which Nanjula, our youtube naan guru used.  I called people I knew around town that might have such ambitions to use a baking stone and found--no one. Not a soul.  My dad and I were left to our own wits if we were going to have our naan bread.  And have it we would.  While contemplating how we would get a baking stone, I looked down at the black tiles on floor of our kitchen's back entry and asked, "Dad, what are those tiles made out of?" And with that, we were off to find the slate tiles that were left over after the floor was put down. We washed them and heated them up in the oven to cook off any toxins and when our bread dough had proofed (which means that the yeast made it grow double its size. - you know, those wierd little beige balls of... who knows what) we were ready to do some baking, Indian style.  We rolled the dough out flat, patted some water on one side of the dough and slapped it on the hot stone.  We forgot one important detail that saved the future naan breads to come.  You have to poke the dough before you bake it our else it blows up like a balloon and cooks into a papery piece of parchment.  SO uncharacteristic of the tender naan bread I've sampled at Bombay House

The results with the naan were beautiful and that experience paved the way for these cute italian loaves to grace our table.  I learned my love for baking creations from the cute chic on the left.  We do have a slight resemblance wouldn't you say?  

Right now, I'm up in the woods and forest glens of Waterton Lakes National Park (aka the garden of Eden).  More pictures to come...