A Proof Box Right Under My Nose!

"A warm place would speed up the no-knead bread," me thinks.

In need of a proof box, in this all-electric house.  And who has a stove with pilot lights anymore?  A dear friend, an army chaplain, made cookies for the troops using Easy Bake Ovens when she was stationed in Iraq.  But I need something big enough for a loaf of bread.  I've heard of folks using heating pads but the time I tried that the heat was too uneven.  Ponder, ponder, cogitate, look it up on the web ...

Eureka!  If you have a light in your oven, you have a proof box!  Why I couldn't put two and two together in my own head I don't know.  But isn't that why we foodie bloggers love the web?  Put 'rise dough in oven' in the Google search box and you'll find lots of suggestions for using your oven as a proof box. So, even if you don't have a light in your oven, all is not lost.  Instructions are given for all sorts of work-arounds by our fellow foodies.

So, Mom said, "What's a Microplane?"

I'm very lucky to have a proofreader in the family. If you see a mistake here, it's most likely because Mom hasn't caught it yet or I haven't kept up with her corrections. Recently, after seeing me mention one, she asked, "What's a Microplane?"

Now, I'm a kitchen gadget junkie of the first order and I've accumulated lots of kitchen toys over the years -- some useful, some just taking up space. The Microplanes fall into the useful category. In fact, the Microplane has made zesting a lemon a 30-second job around here.

I have three different sizes of Microplane but if you are considering getting your first, I'd recommend the one in the middle of the picture. It works equally well for grating cheeses and citrus zests. I've had mine for several years and throw it in the dishwasher. It seems just as sharp as ever.

In finding the link to Microplane for you I discovered they have a full line of gadgets! More to lust after. Maybe I should help the economy? Oh, no! They have an outlet link with seconds! Bill, honey? Hide my wallet!