@Mrs-B3-Southampton,-Hants my Grandad was already managing the shop in 1966 when I was born, so that figures! He apparently started as a delivery boy when he was 14 (that'd be about 1925, the shop's ownership would have been different then) and retired in 1976.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I am a terrible bread slicer despite trying for years and, in the past, mangled more home made loaves than I care to remember. It was a ceaseless source of amusement to OH. Then I got a bread slicing guide from Lakeland a few years ago. It’s a compact plastic thing which opens out to stand on the work surface. You hold the loaf against it with one hand and slice with the other. The raised sides force you to slice the loaf straight, and the guide helps to support the loaf, so that it doesn’t squash. Even I can do it. It has a thick and thin setting. I just checked and Lakeland have a different design of slicing guide now, with only one slicing thickness. There are loads of other designs out there from different sellers. Worth every penny for me. It might not be as good for cob-shaped loaves as for tinned ones, though.
Carmarthenshire (mild, wet, windy). Loam over shale, very slightly sloping, so free draining. Mildly acidic or neutral.
Yes that's what I've found. Sometimes my loaves can be about 10" wide and most guides won't fit that width.
Yesterday I made a sourdough focaccia for a change (and to save wasting all those dodgy slices of bread) it was so tasty with caramelized onions, strips of pepper and a few sprigs of rosemary. I think it'll be a regular feature from now. Sliced open and filled with tuna mayo for lunch today was really tasty. Also good with cheese and ham as a panini toastie.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I'm very fond of my spelt ' prison bread ' as my husband dubs it. He has never explained how he knows what prison bread tastes like. I have to make him white bread. Once you taste real bread, there's no going back. What really annoys me about shop bread is that it never dries before it goes mouldy so you can't make French toast or decent breadcrumbs.
Tasty idea @B3 some snips of anchovy would be good. I often use olives, but anchovy would make a nice salty contrast too. I've never used caramelized onions on one before but it worked really well.
As a child mum used to try baking bread now and then. It was never, ever a success. Dad used to joke that during WWII mum made bread for the RAF - to drop on Germany.
The first bread I baked was spelt rolls - great aroma and taste but the crust was like steel!
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
My mum would always make soda bread for Sunday evening tea. We would eat loads of it almost straight from the oven with margarine ( definitely couldn’t afford butter but it was still delicious) Our dog loved it too, and would wait patiently for his own slice. I don’t remember it being sliced with any finesse! My mouth is watering after reading about @Pete.8’s delicious creations!
I love soda bread with butter and any red jam but mine never turns out right. I have to resort to M&S who make a passable soda bread if you put it in the oven for a while as they don't cook it enough for some reason (the unsliced one)
Just been on Amazon to order a new lawnmower and all over the page are ads for bread-slicing devices. So the ******** even know what I'm typing on this forum!!
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Posts
Sometimes my loaves can be about 10" wide and most guides won't fit that width.
Yesterday I made a sourdough focaccia for a change (and to save wasting all those dodgy slices of bread) it was so tasty with caramelized onions, strips of pepper and a few sprigs of rosemary. I think it'll be a regular feature from now.
Sliced open and filled with tuna mayo for lunch today was really tasty.
Also good with cheese and ham as a panini toastie.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I often use olives, but anchovy would make a nice salty contrast too.
I've never used caramelized onions on one before but it worked really well.
As a child mum used to try baking bread now and then.
It was never, ever a success.
Dad used to joke that during WWII mum made bread for the RAF - to drop on Germany.
The first bread I baked was spelt rolls - great aroma and taste but the crust was like steel!
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
My mouth is watering after reading about @Pete.8’s delicious creations!
So the ******** even know what I'm typing on this forum!!
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.