Bath and bread

I've had a weekend off baking to visit family in the south, and whilst the boys watched the rugby, the girls escaped the tension of the auld rivalry to rediscover their shopping muscles with a day trip to Bath.

It's such a beautiful city, but on a crisp, sunny, winters day when the bus loads of tourists have died down it's even better. I love the grand Georgian mansions, the narrow winding lanes and the way that even the big chains feel a little special when they are crammed into wonky little shop fronts. It may have started with the Romans, but Bath continues to evolve and the bits that once were shabby have been transformed into smartly paved and chic shopping zones whilst elsewhere the high street is a lovely mix of big names, independent speciality shops, boutiques and foodie delights. With all of this crowded round the historic abbey and Roman baths, I would say that Bath is definitely ahead of the game when it comes to 'destination shopping' and the much needed revival of the British city centre.

The main reason we were there this time though was for the bread. I went to see Les Miserables this week, where destiny is made by a loaf of bread, and in Bath a certain Frenchman has been busy building his own bakery barricades at the heart of the bread revolution. Richard Bertinet's bakeries are now sprinkled over the city and we visited all three on our little pilgrimage.

The Bertinet Kitchen has a small shop front where you can pick up a loaf and your baking kit, whilst out the back the great man himself was busy teaching a class of lucky people the secrets of beautiful bread. At last I got to try one of their delicious almond croissants and picked up an olive bread and sourdough to sample later on. There's also a bakery in the lanes with a beautiful selection of loaves, cakes and pastries and a queue out the door, whilst down in the new station development people were crammed into the latest cafe to get their caffeine and gluten fix in one hit.

It looks like bread is big business, but I also wanted to hunt down the Thoughtful Bread company who have been busy holding their own against the French invasion from their base at the old Green Park station market. I'd never been to this part of town before, but loved the busy market filled with curiosities, vintage gear and local producers. There was cheese, chilli sauce, meat, macaroons and there amongst it all is the bread. By the time we arrived it was early afternoon and the good people of Bath had been busy buying loaves all morning, but there was still plenty of interesting bread to choose from. I was very tempted by the bright pink beetroot bread, but in the end opted for a white local cheese loaf and a sunflower rye. Both of which were delicious.


By this time we were exhausted and in need of revival and refreshment so met up with some friends for a bite to eat and a glass of something chilled. After rejecting (or being rejected) by our first choice by some particularly rude waiters, we hit the council owned Roman Bath House which was lovely and found that Thoughtful Bread was again on the menu. It's great to see the council continuing to build on the success of the spa, and doing something so well rather than just resting on their Roman laurels. I headed home with a bag full of bread and a happy heart, with renewed confidence both in my ability to start my own bread revolution on the other side of the wall and in the future of our nation of shopkeepers.

The news that England had also trounced Scotland in the calcutta cup was just the icing on my Bath bun.

Baking experiments and social media

This weekend started off with a treat when my husband and I took Friday afternoon off and went on a rare trip to the cinema to see the new Bond film before having a slap up seafood dinner at one of my favourite Glasgow restaurants, Gamba. The food was great and due to the magical world of Twitter, fishy chef extraordinaire, Derek knew we were coming and made sure we were well looked after. My favourite was the fish soup with crab and ginger which I could happily have eaten all day long.

Twitter has also got me my first baking commission with @whwlatest on the look out for some gluten free bread. I've had some flour in stock for a couple of weeks so decided to give it a bash today. It actually turned out quite tasty, more like a crumpety milk loaf then a crusty bloomer, but would make a decent bit of substitute toast to satisfy an emergency bread craving. Looking forward to re-baking it for public consumption and seeing how it goes down with those who need it.

Whilst I was waiting for that to bake, I also dug out the bag of spelt flour that had been waiting to be tried for a while and adapted a Richard Bertinet recipe for honey and lavender bread. All was going well until the final transfer to the oven when it deflated somewhat leaving me with a strange looking but heavenly smelling loaf. The lavender was subtle and the nuttiness of the spelt balanced with the sweetness of the honey to give a great tasting, unusual bread.

Twitter is a very strange and wonderful thing. It draws you in, introduces you to like minded people, and provides an amazing platform for marketing, motivation and distraction. I've shared today's experiments with the inspiring @thoughtfulbread who are busy baking on a much grander scale at the other end of the country for some foodie feedback and will let Nigel Slater know that his Brownie recipe is indeed a winner later. It's all very strange, but it keeps me working towards the dream. Just don't tell my mentor @PosiOut about my lack of business planning progress!

Bank holiday baking bonanza

This weekend has been all about the the bread. I am slightly obsessed and my kitchen now looks like a science lab, come illicit still.

I've baked bread occassionally over the years but the obsession started in earnest in June when we went on our family holiday to Lyme Regis and made a daily pilgrimage to the Town Mill Bakery.  I love everything about it: the communal cafe set up and open plan kitchen, the friendly atmosphere, the home made muesli, jam and peanut butter and, of course, the bread. We started each day with a mountain of toast, fresh apple juice, coffee and a pastry or two on the side, and I left inspired to bring some of that feeling back to our every day world.  I heard on the grapevine that the franchise is up for sale, and if I lived at the other end of the country and had won the lottery I would definitely be up for it.  As it is, my home kitchen will have to do for now.

Since then my bread maker has been relegated to emergencies, and I've been working my way through Richard Bertinet's great book - Dough. Every weekend, I've been trying something new and watching my family devour the results. It takes a lot of time, but it is time well spent and I am now addicted to therapeutic qualities of the French kneeding technique which I'm sure helps set off the calories I am now consuming in fresh bread. Next time I go to visit my parents, I'll definitely be insisting we head to Bath to check out the Bertinet Kitchen.

Although my results so far have been impressively edible, I decided that I really wanted to get a bit of expert advice, especially as I wanted to take it to the next level and start experimenting with the king of all artisan breads - the sourdough.

That's when I found Lesley's Kitchen, run by the lovely Lesley Martin, and signed up for her one day sourdough class. Lesley and her husband run a B&B and baking school in Muirkirk, Ayrshire. They converted an Old Church into their beautiful family home and business and Lesley now passes on her many year's of baking expertise to keen amateurs like myself in the heart of her amazing kitchen. I had a brilliant day, starting with fresh cake and coffee on my arrival, to going away armed with my own starters to try and keep alive and a whole host of new tips, suppliers and techniques to try out. The next day I baked off the white and sourdough loaves I had started under Lesley's expert tutelage and enjoyed the fruits of a day well spent. Now the only decision I have to make is which course to try next!