I'm Making Paneer for the First Time, and You're Gonna Watch

I picked up a book on cheese-making a couple of months ago, breezing through it, with lots of exclamations about which ones I would eat (all of them). Then I set it aside and sort of forgot about it, mainly because real cheese-making involves working with bacteria, which I need to do a little research on before I go investing money in cultures to make the cheeses I'm really interested in. 

This week, though, I ended up with a bunch of free time when my folks couldn't make it to town to visit, so I spread out my cookbooks and looked for something not too difficult, but that I hadn't done before. Paneer looked pretty easy to make. It's a soft cheese, so it doesn't require much besides the milk and the curdling agent, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I've never done this before, so I don't really know how it's going to turn out. These kinds of experiments are pretty much endurance trials for my fear of failure, so get ready for lots of emotional baggage, which we all know makes for great blogging.

I'm Making Ciabatta for the First Time, and You're Gonna Watch

I have been getting (semi-)seriously into yeast breads for a few months now. I've made a few different kinds of doughs using different methods. I even made baguettes, which turned out alright, though it's pretty difficult to achieve in a home oven what professional bakers do so well with steam-injected professional-grade ovens.

I've had the past week off, and thought I'd try making something I hadn't made yet: ciabatta. I am absolutely terrible at envisioning a recipe while I read it, and it usually takes me a few tries making a loaf before I'm relatively happy with the result. But I thought it might be fun for you (and possibly horribly embarrassing for me) to watch me try this for the first time. I don't know what to expect, and I'm writing this as I go through the process, so you'll be there for my moment of... well, whatever it is, you'll be there for it.