Guest blog & giveaway with Gwen Jones

Julie Does Julia – and makes Traditional French Baguettes

Julie never did much cooking back in Philadelphia, as the only thing she really liked to make was reservations. All that changed of course, once she found herself in the woods with very few dining options beside what she could create herself. So ever adventurous, she threw herself into French cooking and more than that, traditional French eating, a staple being the crusty baguette to go with the evening meal’s cheese course. So armed with a copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol 2, Julie did Andy proud with her crusty fresh loaves of traditional pain… (NOTE: this is made with an electric mixer equipped with dough hook and flat beater).

Julia Child’s French Bread

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) instant yeast
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (120º – 130º)

Directions

1. In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer using the flat beater, combine the yeast, 2 1/2 cups flour and salt. Mix on low for about 30 seconds.
2. With the motor running on low, pour in the warm water. Continue mixing until a shaggy dough forms. Clean off beater and switch to the dough hook. Mix in the remaining cup of flour a little at a time, to make a soft dough, adding more or less flour as needed. Knead the dough for 5 minutes. The surface should be smooth and the dough will be soft and somewhat sticky.
3. Turn the dough onto a kneading surface and let rest for 2 – 3 minutes while you wash and dry the bowl.
4. Return the dough to the mixing bowl and let it rise at room temperature (about 75º) until 3 1/2 times its original volume. This will probably take about 3 hours.
5. Deflate the dough and return it to the bowl. Let the dough rise at room temperature until not quite tripled in volume, about 1 1/2 – 2 hours.
6. Meanwhile, prepare the rising surface: rub flour into canvas or linen towel placed on a baking sheet. (I used parchment paper.)
7. Divide the dough into 3, 6, or 12 pieces depending on the size loaves you wish to make. Fold each piece of dough in two, cover loosely, and let the pieces relax for 5 minutes.
8. Shape the loaves and place them on the prepared towel or parchment. Cover the loaves loosely and let them rise at room temperature until almost triple in volume, about 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours.
9. Preheat oven to 450º. Set up a “simulated baker’s oven” by placing a baking stone on the center rack, with a metal broiler pan on the rack beneath, at least 4 inches away from the baking stone to prevent the stone from cracking.
10. Transfer the risen loaves onto a peel.
11. Slash the loaves.
12. Spray the loaves with water. Slide the loaves into the oven onto the preheated stone and add a cup of hot water to the broiler tray.
13. Bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown. (If you used parchment paper you will want to remove it after about 10-15 minutes to crisp up the bottom crust. Spray the loaves with water three times at 3-minute intervals.
14. Cool for 2 – 3 hours before cutting.

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Gwen Jones, after spending years writing several unpublishable novels, decided to learn what she was doing wrong or give it all up. So after earning an MFA in Creative Writing from Western Connecticut State University, she’s now so good they even allow her to teach there. An unabashed born-and-bred native of Southern New Jersey and the Jersey Shore, she lives with her husband, Frank, and the absolute cutest cat in the world, Gracie.

Visit my website – Gwen Jones Writes

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Andy Devine is advertising for a wife on a utility pole, and interviewing him is the last thing TV reporter Julie Knott needs. Especially after her cheating fiancé just tweeted their disengagement. Now she has got to choose: get the story—or become it?

Wanted: Wife

Landed, Financially Secure 40-Yr-Old Male
* Handsome, but with old-school communication skills and a secret past *

Seeks Healthy, Athletic Female
* Preferably a pretty reporter with a messy love life who has never spent a day in the woods *

For Marriage and Family
* What could possibly go wrong? *

If you love the humor and romance of Rachel Gibson and Susan Elizabeth Phillips, don’t miss the fabulous debut of Gwen Jones!

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