Are you really baking all of that?

My son asked me if I had made everything I was posting in the photos.  Though I can hardly believe it, I am posting photos of only the things we baked that day.  By we, I mean my teacher and I.  I personally formed and shaped 80-90% of the pieces and have made all the dough.  Marda's philosophy is that if you bake only two loaves of something, you would never understand the quantity and time needed in a bakery, or how to multi-task to get it all done.  That is why she has structured things the class the way that they are.  She is very dedicated to making sure that her students are getting exactly what they need to know from her.  Today was a perfect example of this.  We started out making the dough for the Olive Sourdough bread, which was being made from sourdough starter that had been being fed and refreshed at least 24 hours before.  The loaves are studded with Kalamata and Green Olives and have basil and red pepper flakes in them.  They are scrumptious and shaped like olives.

I then proceeded to mix up 15 pounds of white pan bread...essentially fine white bread for sandwiches...you will see the square loaves at the end of the picture below.  We then mixed up Ciabatta dough and Kaiser Roll dough while the white bread dough was raising.  Then it was time to shape the white bread loaves.  I ate lunch while working and shaping the Kaiser rolls and shaped the olive bread.  While they were all rising...she had me make a Brioche wreath from leftover dough from earlier in the week, and learn to form hot dog buns from the remnant of the white pan bread.

Then it was time to bake the first loaves and shape the Ciabatta.  Soon the Kaiser rolls were ready to bake.

We then spent the remainder of the afternoon baking and watching the oven and cleaning up.  The last thing to come out of the oven was the Ciabatta...crazy dough.

So all in all...the nine-hour day summed up like this...except for Ciabatta shown above.

 

 

 

Yes...I really did bake all of that.  The only problem is what to do with all of the bread. 

 

Well, the weekend coming, there is no school for two days.  That will be a perfect time for my studying to get done., and to catch up on using up the bread that I have brought back for me and the boys.