Whats the trick to working with dough?
A. If you have warm hands, you don’t want to touch the dough too much. Think about your fingertips touching the dough, having a light touch, a little flour on your hands, but not letting the warmth from your hands transfer to the dough. Gently lift and fold. Put your five finger tips on it, not your hand. Use the heel of your hand to seal the seam. Q. What do I do if the dough rises but I forgot about it? A. If you’re still on the first rise, just push it down and give it 15 or 20 minutes. Q. What inspires your recipes? A. White pan loaf, that’s coming from my grandma. . . . She made jam from all these berries in her garden. A treat was this wonderful bread with jam. . . . I also have an olive and pepper bread. . . . When I was traveling in Italy with my sister, we ate just this bread. . . . When I travel, I’m always looking at the breads. Somehow the aroma and the crust have a memory, and that’ll become part of another bread over time. Q. What were your first kitchen experiences? A. I
