Ah! The Hopeful Pageantry of Bread and Puppet documents the radical puppet theater's Domestic Resurrection Circus, held every summer on its Glover, Vermont grounds from 1975 to 1998, and which featured puppeteers from around the world. They no longer hold the yearly festival, as the crowds grew out of control, but they are still active [ 2009 documentary | part 2 | 3 ], and as always, serving free bread and art as panacea. There's plenty more Bread and Puppet Theater on Youtube. [more inside]
posted by not_on_display on Dec 8, 2009 - 18 comments

Gastrosexuals are masculine, upwardly mobile men, aged 25-44, who are passionate about cooking and the rewards that it might bring – pleasure, praise and potential seduction. A test for the gastrosexual. [more inside]
posted by bigmusic on Jun 22, 2009 - 77 comments

Food writer Michael Ruhlman has issued the BLT From Scratch—Summertime Challenge where participants must cure their own bacon, grow their own lettuce and tomatoes, bake their own bread and make their own mayonnaise.
posted by slogger on Jun 10, 2009 - 68 comments

The perfect Sunday nosh: A short history of the bagel. In an age when allegedly edible breadstuffs that my grandmother would have barely recognized have become ubiquitous, did you know that even the Pharaohs had a yen for the iconic Jewish comfort food that is as much a symbol of New York City as baguettes are to Paris? Bagels turn out to be surprisingly easy to make at home, too, though they won't be the same without a schmear and some nice Nova. (Previously on Ask.) Extra credit: the history of everything.
posted by digaman on Nov 23, 2008 - 64 comments

Mark Bittman updates the no-knead bread recipe to make it faster, healthier. For the four of you that don't read Lifehacker or Mark Bittman's pieces in the New York Times, but who love baking bread. [more inside]
posted by mojohand on Oct 9, 2008 - 60 comments

Here's your chance to bake bread like a master. Cookingbread.com. The detailed step-by-step instructions include photos to help guide you through each bread recipe, from start to finish. You will find many different kinds of recipes for bread machines, or family classics such as cheese bread and banana bread. I just made some cracked wheat this past weekend. Also includes printable recipe cards. So get baking. [more inside]
posted by netbros on Jun 4, 2008 - 15 comments

How to Make Love to the Dough Instructional video on bread and love making. Portions NSFW.
posted by ghastlyfop on Apr 4, 2008 - 19 comments

It's Telly Friday, baby.
posted by miss lynnster on Dec 14, 2007 - 32 comments

Twenty-two browned, hollowed-out loaves of Italian white bread. Twenty-two pounds of bacon. Twenty-two jars of peanut butter. Twenty-two jars of jelly. Forty-eight tablespoons of butter. A case of Perrier. A case of champagne. And the King.
posted by WCityMike on Apr 5, 2007 - 40 comments

Comedian Mitch Hedberg died two years ago this Thursday. On March 29, see if a local deli will severely ruin their reputation as a tribute to his memory.
posted by myopicman on Mar 26, 2007 - 50 comments

"When you squeeze it, its golden brown crust should crackle and even sing. Its aroma should be a little bit sweet, a little bit toasty. There should be a good marriage between its crust and its interior crumb. When the crumb is pressed, it should spring back rapidly. Its color should be off-white and its cavities widely distributed and uneven in size. Its nutty, buttery taste should be both sweet and savory - like a good chardonnay.” Bread expert and Cornell prof Steven Kaplan talks with Conan, to pretty hilarious effect, about his latest book. You may have to snoop around the NBC site - I couldn't find a direct link. The man is really into baguettes. He's given a few entertaining radio interviews as well, and a New York magazine profile of him features a list of his six favorite NYC baguettes. If you don't have a great bakery nearby, you can try your hand at home. Bonus Game: Balance the Baguette! (from a previous post)
posted by jtajta on Feb 24, 2007 - 22 comments

Porn Bread: recipes for making your own Vagina Danishes, Bukkookies, and Ejaculaires! SFW, but may be difficult to explain to prudish or hungry co-workers.
posted by fandango_matt on Jan 19, 2007 - 36 comments

The Secret To Great Bread, according to Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery, is time. If you have 20 hours to spare, you can make a spectacular, no-knead loaf with the simplest of ingredients. Here's his recipe, and here's another. Of course, there are those who would decry the Staff of Life anyway you slice it, but even they can enjoy some hot gluten on yeast bread porn. via the monkies
posted by maryh on Nov 12, 2006 - 47 comments

Bread: From ritual to the dinner table, bread has played a significant part in human society. Yeast, aka Barm, is only one of several leavening agents. Which leavening used (if any) can be of cultural significance. I know when I drive by the Franz factory, the smell makes my mouth water. Sourdough is my favorite, but you can cook / find your own. World Bread Day has passed; hug your local baker anyway! To Health!
posted by whimsicalnymph on Oct 22, 2006 - 27 comments

IndieKarma micropayments: automatically tip the weblogs you favour 1¢ each time you visit. (Via Kottke, perhaps unsurprisingly.)
posted by jack_mo on May 9, 2006 - 24 comments

Balance the baguette without hitting the croissants. [note: flash]
posted by crunchland on Oct 9, 2005 - 15 comments

Since Sliced Bread: A union-sponsored contest to find and develop ideas to improve the U.S. economy - the winner will receive $100,000. Entries range from virally-spreading an anti-exploitation shame meme to increasing US world domination. Other greatest ideas since sliced bread include your own personal jesus toast, corporate logos on toast, and Liberty.
posted by Rumple on Oct 8, 2005 - 6 comments

Build your own brick oven.
posted by 김치 on Aug 1, 2005 - 16 comments

Bread is dangerous Research on bread indicates that: More than 98 percent of convicted felons are bread users. More than 90 percent of violent crimes are committed within 24 hours of eating bread. Bread has been proven to be addictive. Subjects deprived of bread and given only water to eat begged for bread after as little as two days. (More research inside)
posted by growabrain on Apr 19, 2005 - 34 comments

"Salt rising bread is, when at it's best, as if a delicately reared, unsweetened plain cake had had an affair with a Pont l'Eveque cheese." There's even a mystery to go along with your (cheese-flavored) bread.
posted by scrim on Nov 26, 2004 - 10 comments

Due to temporary budget shortfalls, I find myself spending my Saturdays elbow deep in breadmaking. Sourdough bread is perhaps one of the most primal forms of bread relying an an artificial ecosystem of hundreds of different bacteria and yeasts to digest grain flours and produce gas. The souring of the dough has complex effects on the flavor of the resulting bread and is necessary for low-protein flours such as rye. Free starter cultures can be obtained from the friends of Carl who continue his tradition of mailing his culture to anyone who sent a self-addressed stamped envelope. You can buy cultures from around the world, but if you want to live dangerously, you can cultivate your own by just using a mixture of flour and water relying on microbial flora growing on the flour. Sourdough in some ways puts the art of hacking back into breadmaking because it requires a deeper understanding of what is going on beyond just throwing a set of dry and wet ingredients into a bread machine.

Which could explain why I'm still lucky to get something other than a brick. But like beermaking, the DIY satisfaction makes up for many flaws in the final product. (And on final edit, I can't get away with making this post without the obligatory link to the sourdough faqs.
posted by KirkJobSluder on Jul 3, 2004 - 32 comments

Bread. History of the victual.
posted by the fire you left me on Jan 13, 2004 - 2 comments

Up to 35 million Americans are on a low-carb diet. Food manufacturers have responded with more than 600 new low-carb products this year. Restaurants are altering their menus. Online communities are springing up to share information about the low-carb lifestyle. With this big target market, how hard will corporations push to expand the low-carb movement? Do the health warnings about the diet foretell an increase in medical problems, or will we see a generation of healthy, slender, pork-rind chomping families?
posted by neuroshred on Dec 17, 2003 - 30 comments

The BBC Is Looking For The Best Sandwich In The World: Can you help? Sandwiches are supposedly easy but, come to think of it, perfect sandwiches are actually quite difficult to invent and produce. Bread gets wet; lettuce wilts; flavours and textures clash. Personally, I like English tea sandwiches best; though the Mediterranean versions are a meal in themselves. But if you had to stake your life and reputation on one fulfilling and tastebud-enticing sandwich, which one would it be? To go.
posted by MiguelCardoso on Sep 6, 2003 - 63 comments

http://www.Breadhours.org A group of over 300 residents and merchants in California’s Bay Area has established a local currency called BREAD (a rough acronym for Bay Area Regional Exchange and Development), based on hours of work valued at $12 an hour. Through the BREAD network, which now has over $20,000 worth of currency in circulation, members can pay for dinner, carpentry, childcare, tutoring, clerical assistance or organic produce. Tired of traditional activism, founder Miyoko Sakashita wanted to create a positive local economy and “stop our resources from supporting global corporations that are not accountable to people and the environment.” Check it out at Breadhours.org
posted by bureaustyle on Mar 15, 2003 - 28 comments

The Upper Crust Of Bread: What happens when the greatest bread-maker in France, Lionel Poilâne, talks to America's finest baker, Peter Reinhart, and her most fanatical bread-taster, Edward Behr? I'll tell you what: a scrumptious, crackling and very knowledgeable conversation about the the wonders of the baguette, the complexities of simple bread and the deliciousness ["Forgiveness for mistranslations"] of the staff of life in general. Last year, for the first time ever, an American baker beat the French competition to win the "Best Bread in the World" award. Will what recently happened with wine in the New World now happen with bread? Will the Americans [peanut butter and jelly sandwiches notwithstanding] begin abandoning industrial, pre-sliced and sweetened white bread, just as Europe increasingly and depressingly succumbs to it? [Main link requires Real Audio.].
posted by MiguelCardoso on Nov 23, 2002 - 29 comments

Cancer and Carbohydrates (per FT) may be closely linked according to recent international study - and not just any carbohydrates but those that are our favorites - deep fried potatoes, rice, and bread all may contain high levels of cancer causing acrylamides. What's your average carb eater to do?
posted by zia on Apr 26, 2002 - 13 comments

Jesus! In The Raisin Bread? What Kinda Holy Communion Is That?! Better read Helen Hull Hitchcock's fascinating column on Catholic.net to find out: "In recent months Catholics from around the country have been reporting with increasing frequency that their parishes are using "real" bread (i.e. table bread) instead of Communion hosts. Many are concerned that the validity of the Mass is affected. "Have I really received Christ?" is a frequent question. Are they right to be concerned? You bet...So, have progressive Catholics gone too far? And what does the Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani, known to all as IGMR, have to say about that?
posted by MiguelCardoso on Apr 2, 2002 - 53 comments

Snow is falling throughout the WRAL-TV viewing area Southern snow. Better get milk and bread! It will be like going to the Kroger in Moscow, but you must have milk and bread. Wow, I love it when it snows hard in the South, what a magic time. Only once every 5 or 10 years do we see a foot of snow.
posted by crunchburger on Jan 2, 2002 - 7 comments

Bring back the classic cut!
An online petition to bring back the old "V-shaped canyon" style.
posted by riley370 on Aug 21, 2001 - 26 comments