Caroline, I'm still trying to decide which end of the camera to point, so many of you take such fabulous photos and mine are mostly crappy, someday, sigh..... Cameron, pasta sauces are your specialty you say, DH loves pasta, I make a very simple meat sauce for spaghetti which DH likes, do you have a favorite sauce recipe that you would be willing to part with? I'm trying to build up brownie points with DH, come spring this old girl leaves the kitchen for the garden and I'm afraid my stove and I part company for awhile LOL. The severe draught you are having was on our news last night, my heart goes out to all of you. Up here it's stormy and pouring buckets, they say it's one of many storms that will be heading our way. Some communities have had to deal with flooding issues from torrential downpours already, and it's not over yet. Instead of getting on my nerves which it usually does, it's just making me feel so sad, all this excess rain could be such a blessing if it would only fall where it's so badly needed. I'm praying it heads your way soon. Annette

No, you aren't crazy to worry about this -- it would be a big deal to me. I have marble counters and a brushed granite on my island. I wasn't sure if working with a dough with fruits or something would be a problem on the marble (haven't had one yet), so I wanted to be able to work with doughs on the granite as well. I have -- not as often as on the marble, but without any problems. Sure beats the gucky tile I had before!

Well, here's another opinion... Refrigerating bread? Not any more. I'll leave it out first. Refrigerators tend to dry it out. Freezing it will keep it better. And I agree that it's not the method to freeze, but the thawing but after that I disagree. What I've experienced is thawing it in the bag the condensation gets on the bread. Take a loaf and put a tablespoon or so of water in the bag and leave it sit. See if it clings to the wrapper. I'll bet it won't! I either leave the bag open a while to evaporate the excess moisture or pull the bread out of the bag and let the bag dry, or I'll take a dry bag and transfer it. Bread thaws quickly, especially if it's sliced and you pull it apart. I've never tried the paper towel thing but I'd guess that would help keep the excess moisture away from the bread.

Thanks for all the answers, folks: I'm glad to hear from other bakers! Of all the breads I hear about here, plllog's are the ones that speak to me most. But, although, if I really set about it with determination and a decent financial investment, I might be able to get the tools and supplies necessary to make bread as I see described here, I'm not willing to do that. I live in the country in Italy, and 98% of my groceries come from our small local supermarket. There is no Costco. No Whole Foods. I have no store that offers rye flour, grain berries, molasses, bran, wheat germ, reasonably priced oatmeal, or a host of other ingredients for baking standard in the U.S. I don't like to drive, I don't like to run around, I'm reluctant to add to our terrible air pollution, and gas costs about $7 a gallon. Add to this the absolutely horrible dis-service offered by our post office-affiliated package delivery company, which, after my last traumatic experience, caused me to swear that I would never again order by mail anything that would have to be delivered through them (there are other couriers, if one has a choice). So I work with what I have. This suits me, from a philosophical and practical standpoint, and while it's likely possible to make better bread, mine makes me happy. I've gotten used to the fresh yeast, which is reliable, and I have a fair variety of recipes I've worked out. The last one was potato and buckwheat (I was able to find buckwheat flour again, thank goodness!) and it turned out really tasty. That one was majority whole grain, simply because I had run out of white, and that improved it. Plllog's comments make me think, again, about how much I could learn about bread baking. The "soaker" is new to me. Who knows, this may stimulate me to some modest experimentation. Like Annie, if I want substantial nourishing bread, I have to make it myself. The Italian bread is good with a bowl of beans and broth but it just doesn't work as standalone food. Add to this that Italians don't really eat breakfast, so there's not much of an offering of sturdy food for the start of the day. I think my tolerance of grain-based foods has diminished as I've grown older, and it may be that baking with a sponge, and adding a variety of ingredients improves the digestibility of my breads. My diet is relatively low in cereals--I eat them regularly, but in much smaller amounts than when I was younger--and I mostly eat bread as the centerpiece of breakfast. It powers me up! in the most satisfactory way. Today is the potato and buckwheat bread--we're on our last loaf; I'll have to make more. There's a non-sweet almond bread in the freezer, made with milk, olive oil, and lots of almonds. If it gets cold enough I might even want to try a sweet bread. I made one last year with raisins, fennel, and orange juice and peel that I remember as being good. The basic dough of that one was similar to that of the almond bread, made with milk and oil. The loaves made with fats don't need butter. All my breads are part whole-grain, usually one third, though I may try upping that in some cases.