Whatever happened to my photo? From now on I just may have to use total word descriptions. Season your meat any old way you like to have it seasoned. I used the Penzeys only because I got a nice collection of jars for Christmas and love their blends. Before Penzeys (BP) I would use the old fashioned garlic, pepper, fennel, oregano, bay leaf routine with anything else close to my fingers on the spice shelf. I made a meat pie the other night and used steak seasoning for the ground chuck, it worked out fine. Good luck and let us know how it turned out. I plan on collecting all of the names into one post along with the suggestions I am getting from other sources. You guys are the best, though. Here is a link that might be useful: traveling and cooking with grandpa

The science behind the staling of bread is really interesting to study. You need to choose the right ingredients, don't over-bake the bread, and to choose the correct type of wrapping to help keep breads "fresh" longer than 2-3 days. Moisture changes in the loaf after it cools, and that contributes to staling through evaporation and moisture redistribution. If you leave your loaves unwrapped, you will quickly see a 10% weight loss, but usually less than 1% in tightly-wrapped bread. So how quickly you package your loaves after they are cool, and what you package them in can affect it's "freshness". Choose a close wrap - such as plastic wrap or a tight-fitting plastic bag, rather than a loose-fitting plastic bag. If you reuse plastic bags for your bread storage, make sure they are sprayed with a bleach/water solution (1-quart water and 1 t. bleach) to kill any mold spores on the bag surface. Adding coconut oil to your bread will also aid in preventing mold longer than using vegetable oil or butter, as well as using honey and agave nectar instead of sugar. When bread is wrapped loosely in a plastic bag, the moisture from the crumb of the bread quickly migrates through the crust and then into the air in the bag. Even more so if the bread has one end sliced, or if you slice the entire loaf. I only slice bread as needed so it stays fresh longer. The moisture level in the crust increases from about 12 to 28% when stored in a loose-fitting plastic bag, such as a zip-lock bag which is much larger than the loaf of bread. The worst place to store bread is in the refrigerator. In one scientific experiment I have in my files on the subject, refrigerated bread staled as much in one day as bread held at 86°F did in six. Because of the ingredients I use, methods of making and proper storage of the bread, the 100% whole wheat bread recipe I make will stay fresh enough for a peanut butter sandwich after 7 days. We typically use one 1-pound loaf of bread a week. Those ingredients that aid in preventing staling and mold are agave nectar (or honey), coconut oil, and a mixture of chia seeds and water. Chia seeds hold moisture in the crumb of the bread. I also use an overnight sponge method to make the bread, make sure the dough is well-hydrated, use a long, cool, slow rise, and make sure I don't over-bake the bread. If you choose to make lean breads, they begin to stale within 2 hours of baking, which is why fat-free loaves like Italian or French breads stale so quickly. Fats slow staling by improving the loaf volume. -Sweeteners slow staling directly by retaining moisture. The better choices for sweeteners are honey and agave nectar, especially if you are going to freeze the bread. -Use emulsifiers, such as egg yolks or lecithin. Choose breads that are good keepers to begin with. -panettone -breads made with starters (acidic doughs) -breads prepared with cold slow rises -breads that include moist cooked grains (wheat, rice, etc.) or fruit (such as raisins or currants). -breads containing dairy products, potato, potato starch, mashed potato or other mashed cooked vegetable, potato water, eggs, oatmeal (dry or cooked), etc. -well-hydrated (moist) doughs - Slack doughs, along with optimum proofing and oven temperatures, maximize absorption and reduce staling. It's better to err on the side of a wet dough. If your dough is dry and you over-bake the loaf, this contributes to breads quickly drying out and going stale. Bake most panned loaves of bread to an internal temperature between 195-205°F. The higher the temperature, the dryer the loaf will be. Some of the more interesting aspects of staling breads... -Unwrapped bread looses moisture and flavor faster, but retains crumb texture. If you use a loaf of bread quickly, just up-end the cut side on a cutting board and cover the loaf with a cotton towel. This method is often used by people because they like the improved crumb texture from using this method. -Wrapped bread stays softer (especially if you wrap the bread while it's still slightly warm) and tastes better (especially when wrapped after the loaf is completely cool), but the crust softens faster. -The crumb firms fastest at low temperatures between 20-50°F, which are refrigerator temperatures. -High storage temperatures (above 95°F) affect color and flavor. -Optimum storage temperature for bread is 70-95°F. -Freezing at 0° to -20°F has the effect of about one day's storage time, but cold storage effectively stops all other aspects of staling IF the bread is tightly wrapped in one or two layers of plastic wrap, then a layer of foil. Tight wrapping is necessary to keep the moisture in the crumb from migrating through the crust, creating ice crystals which are found when bread is stored in a loose-fitting bag in the freezer. -You can re-gelatinize the starches in stale bread by spritzing a slice with a fine mist spritzer (often used for plants) mist the slice with water. Warm the slice/s in a toaster for a moment or two. You can only use this method once. If you want to re-gelatinize a whole loaf, or a portion of an unsliced loaf, wrap it in foil and bake it for 10-20 minutes at 300-350°F. But you will need to use it quickly. -Grainlady

There is so much information out there and some of it contradictory so it does get confusing. It is really going to depend on what type of bread you are making. Almost all the bread I make is the more "artisan" style, including sourdough versions. So my comments are based on my own experience. The more hydrated the dough, the more open the crumb. I like the 68% to 72% for the crumb which gives me just the right amount of holes. The bread is still good for sandwiches and for toasting. On the other hand, I also like to go up to 80 - 82% sometimes. 68% to 72% is perfect for same day baking as well as going into the fridge for a longer cold fermentation. If I go with the higher hydration of 78% and up, then I always let the dough rise in the fridge at least overnight if not longer. And I'm using substantially less yeast than I use to. As an example Julia Child's baguette recipe calls for 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast in 3 1/2 cups of flour. I use less 4 to 5 g of yeast in 1000 g of flour, (more than six cups) and 7g in 1500 g of flour (over 10 cups). I haven't found that my bread rises faster with more water, but that might be because of the reduced yeast. ~Ann Edited to add link. Here is a link that might be useful: Crumb This post was edited by ann_t on Wed, Oct 29, 14 at 11:18

Like Annie mentioned, you are good with either choice. Last time we made empanadas, way more than necessary, (took all day), we froze some un-baked and others baked first. Baking first is an easier re-heat or grab-n-go for travel. I almost always half-bake like pies but something like homemade ravioli i freeze fresh made. With tamales, i take some out of the steamer early for freezing since they will be steamed again later after thawing. Same with pizza night. While at it, i make extra ones to freeze and don't take those all the way to crispy like we like them...they crisp up in the re-heating.