NOT THE BEES

There's still some moisture in the air as spring makes its way into summer. Today it was in the form of a layer of cloud that kept the temperatures from getting too cold overnight, making for a lovely bike ride first thing in the morning.

The bees got up early this morning too, and decided to move house. Into my plum tree, to be specific.

The neighbour actually found them, since they were on his side of the fence. He came over to let me know that he would be calling an exterminator to "remove" them, but I suggested that the neighbour down the street was a beekeeper and would probably want to collect the swarm instead.

And that's exactly what he did.

Loaves of Whimsy

I've been making bread for a while now, perfecting my smooth, round loaves. But sometimes you get struck by a yearning for whimsy.

And so whimsy it is. These loaves were formed by the usual method, rolling out the dough after the first proof and rolling it up into a log. But instead of pinching off the seams and ends, I sliced each log into three pieces, turned them 90 degrees, and dropped them in the loaf pan.

They smushed up together nicely when they rose and baked, and after the second bake it really looks fantastic.

The camera went a little overboard on the orangeness, it's not quite this crispy in real life, but it does look mighty fine.

This type of loaf making would work really well in a pullman pan, but I always get nervous with that type of pan thinking it's going to explode when it's baking. I may yet get some and play around, we'll see I guess.