You know that you're slightly delusional when you dream about things that won't fit in your New York City apartment. Like a wood burning stove, for instance. Of course, "you" is me. And it's me wishing I could bake bread all day, but my vacation is just about over and now I'm about to go back to my real job. And my wife is coming home in the next few days. So now I'm wiping all evidence of flour from the walls and counters. Even as I feel the urge to bake, even though it's 97 degrees Faranheit, and I'm using our two ovens to make multiple bakes at 280 F degrees in both ovens. Talk about a hot kitchen, Shuna!

Call me crazy, sure… but what's not to like with a recipe like Holzofenbrot? A crusty blackened bread with rye and wheat, the kind you slather with butter and some blackforest ham. It comes from the book  Roggen das Standardwerk by Olaf Bauermann and Ines Gromes. With a load of different rye in my cupboards I say, volle geschwindigkeit voran, verdammt den torpedos!

That's what I am doing at the end of summer, while wondering if autumn's crisp cool air will soon come.  Without a cord of wood or hearth, I baked this wonderful loaf inside in my GE oven using my faux hearth, a creuset pot used to set and gelatanize the crust to it's wonderful hue! We'll be in the business with better instruments, hopefully one day!

Yes, it's baking madness, obsession whatever you may want to call it, but I like it!