Is it bigger than a bread box? 3 Bread Myths DEBUNKED

Lets play twenty questions. Is it bigger than a breadbox? It is exactly the size of a breadbox. But mom, what is a breadbox? My kids did not know what a breadbox was until a week or two ago. We had a bread drawer never a box that held our bread. I have seen people put their bread in the fridge, on the top of the fridge, on the counter, in drawers, but breadboxes seem to have gone out of style. Is it to give up counter space for minimalist chic counters made from expensive materials worth more than my car?

Maybe its because so many people put their bread in the fridge so it will last longer-- MYTH!!!

Myth 1--Bread stays longer in fridge. Bread WILL NOT last longer in the fridge actually you are cutting the freshness by a 1/3rd. "Avoid storing bread in a refrigerator. The average temperature of most domestic refrigerators is about 41°F (5°C). This is the temperature at which bread stales most quickly. One day in the refrigerator is equivalent to three days at room temperature."

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Myth 2--Freezing bread really does not increase how long you can keep it. Wrong, if you freeze a loaf of tightly wrapped bread before its freshness date has expired you can keep it in the freezer up to THREE MONTHS. "The freezer is the ideal place to store bread for keeping beyond its ‘best before’ date or when mold growth is a concern.Wrapped bread will keep for up to three months in the freezer. Defrosting a loaf at room temperature can take a few hours; this can be speeded up by wrapping it in foil and placing it in a pre-heated oven."

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Myth 3---You tell which day a loaf of bread was baked by the color of its plastic twist tag. According to SNOPES.COM, this is TRUE. NOT A MYTH. But each company uses different colors for different days in order for their staff to easily change the shelves without reading the dates, just looking at the colors. Example:
Monday - Blue
Tuesday - Green
Thursday - Red
Friday - White
Saturday - Yellow
To show when it was baked, and bread usually only has shelf life of a few days. So you wouldn't buy "white" tag bread on a Thursday unless is was marked down and you like day old (or six) buns.

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Now that we have looked at some bread myths, we come back to where I started. Get your bread out of the fridge and in a breadbox. When most of us think of breadboxes we picture some hideous wooden thing our mom had forever that didn't seem to keep the bread fresh but maybe added something to the bread. Not my new Stainless Steel black breadbox from Francois et Mimi, it is sleek and will not promote more moisture growth on your bread the way the wooden boxes of yesteryear did. The new design also allows for full space of bread and not wood just for the sake of wood and the word bread across the front. I am all for the nostalgia of my childhood but I do not want my breads and baked goods to taste and smell like antiques. I love the sleek black and stainless steel design, it is easy to clean and use. Lift lid, insert buns, close lid. Forget buns are in there because you are gluten free and your family has never had a bread box and now its been a few days and you open up and the buns are not moldy and they are fresh. Huzzah! #hippiehappy

from the Federation of Bakers and Bread.com
http://www.bakersfederation.org.uk

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Article: Grain Education

and SNOPES.COM

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One of lifes greats-- a cup of coffee is back in my life again

When the letter-cup single serve coffee craze began, I was so stoked. I struggle with making a consistent cup of coffee. It was either too strong, too weak or I would just get sick of the whole filter coffee struggle. If the coffee maker was on the cheap side chances are the filter would fall down and I would end up drinking more grounds than ended up in the filter. Ugh. Then my hubby bought me the coffee maker that takes those cute coffee cups. And I loved that, perfect cup every time. Then it didn't. I started getting grounds and the single serve cup was all busted open when I opened the top. In the news single serve coffee machine started exploding opening, now I never got burned but my machine did start popping open. The Letter-Cup coffee company did replace the first one that had issues. When the second one started having issues, I was done and I think it was right about summer time when my letter-cup brewer died so I replaced my coffee habit with a new kick in the head drink by Dew of the Mountain.

Then for Lent I gave up my Kicks in the head and I cannot afford to drink four dollar coffees, especially if you have more than one cup of caffeine in a given day. Then Tomoson had an opportunity to review Francois et Mimi 50oz Glass French Press, I jumped at the chance to try a new way of having coffee. My Aunti is a full fledged hippie and my source for all things awesomely natural and organic. She is a healer, masseuse and was the first person I ever knew to have a glow that draws people in and in the last thirty some years that glow has only grown brighter. I digress, wink. So the only time I have had experience with a french press is when Aunti has made me coffee in her french press. It was great, rich, but sometimes grinds got through but with enough sugar it was yummy enough.

So when I opened the box, I was happy to see a single piece of equipment, strange that there was not any peanuts or styrofoam, just a plunger inside the glass coffee carafe. To be honest my first batch was a little weak, mostly because of my ability to grind my coffee beans. I am working with the fine-ness of the coffee to find the richness of the taste of the joe. The Francois et Mimi Glass French does not allow any grinds to get through so far. It says it is dishwasher safe, but I have only hand washed mine-- mostly because I don't want the kids to have the opportunity to eff it up.

But after just a few weeks with the press I feel a nice comfort with it that I think will only grow that I am glad that makes me feel good about the less processed version of coffee. Sort of primitive simplicity in life that makes me smile. #hippiehappy


I received this complimentary in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.