Apr 19
2009

An Earth Friendly Wrap for One Good Loaf

in Fuji Craft

This week is Earth Week here on LFM.
This Wednesday, April 22nd, is the official Earth Day, but I thought it would be fun to celebrate all week long with some fun ideas for Earth inspired food and some ways to be more “Earth friendly.” Of course, a celebration would not be complete without a giveaway, right? I’m not going to tell just yet what the giveaway will be, but I promise it’s GOOD, so keep checking back!

Today I tweaked Katie Kinser’s French Bread recipe that I shared with you a couple of weeks ago for a thank you treat I am taking to someone later today (and for this week’s One Good Loaf).
I made the dough a bit sweeter and added some lemon zest. I love this bread recipe because there are so many things you can do to the dough (in other words, this is probably NOT the last time you’ll be seeing me play with it). I decided to go with a bit sweeter version this time so that I could deliver a loaf with a jar of Nutella. For the shape I did a pretty knot by rolling out two long “snakes” of dough, then twisted the “snakes” together,
and then rolled that up and tucked the ends under.
I love how pretty and golden brown the loaves look when they come out of the oven, thanks to the egg white that you brush on prior to baking.
Today’s Earth friendly idea is a more Earth friendly gift wrap. I’ve told you before about the Japanese concept of furoshiki, which I love. Furoshiki are square clothes traditionally used for wrapping things in Japan.
Why not use this concept to give a loaf of bread as a gift to someone? You can easily make your own simple wrapping cloth.
All you need is a couple of minutes, a fat quarter of fabric, and some pinking shears. Just open up your fat quarter of cloth and cut around the fabric as close to the edge as you can with the pinking shears. Et voila! A furoshiki all ready to go!
If you have a sewing machine and a bit of extra time, you could always do a zig zag stitch around the edges (instead of using the pinking shears), or turn the edges under and sew around for a finished edge. The great thing about this method of wrapping is that the person on the receiving end can then use the cloth for a craft, or reuse it for a gift themselves!

To learn how to tie your furoshiki, here are some ideas published by the Japan Ministry of the Environment.

Katie Kinser’s French Bread
Makes 2 large loaves (or 3 smaller ones)

1 1/2 Tbsp. or 2 packets (1/4 oz./7 g each) dry active yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups hot water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
1/2 cup oil
5 – 6 cups all-purpose flour
finely grated zest of 1 lemon

1. Dissolve yeast, warm water, and 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl.

2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine hot water, 1/4 cup sugar, salt, and oil. Add 3 cups of flour and lemon zest to the mixture in the large bowl/mixer and mix well. Stir in yeast mixture.

3. Add 2 – 3 cups more flour and mix until well blended. (At this point your dough will still be quite sticky). Leave in bowl and let rise for 1 hour, mixing a few strokes a couple of times during the hour.

4. Divide dough into 2 (or 3 if you want smaller loaves) pieces. Roll out each piece on a floured surface into the length desired then roll up length wise like a jelly roll.

5. Put on a greased cookie sheet, sealed side down, and tuck the ends under. Slash the top diagonally across the top every couple of inches with a sharp knife. Brush with egg white. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Let loaves rise 30 more minutes.

6. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes.

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

curiousdomestic April 19, 2009 at 10:34 pm

What a pretty bread. Love the wrapping, too.

Reply

K and S April 20, 2009 at 12:30 am

very creative! Happy Earth Week!

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girlichef April 20, 2009 at 4:53 am

This bread is gorgeous…and I’d love to give or receive something wrapped this way! Beautiful.

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LollyChops April 20, 2009 at 6:51 am

ummmm… so two weeks ago I bought that EXACT same fat quarter of fabric. Great minds!

…and this bread looks soooo good!

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HanamiGallery April 20, 2009 at 7:19 am

the bread looks great! my fiance wishes i would make bread more often! hahaha. wrapping it is such a good idea for a gift!

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Bob April 20, 2009 at 8:29 am

Oh man does that bread look good.

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Jen @ MyKitchenAddiction.com April 20, 2009 at 2:35 pm

The bread looks delicious! I am thinking that will be wonderful for this cold, rainy week… Nothing the smell of freshly baked bread can’t fix!

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Am May 31, 2009 at 8:44 pm

Thanks for the great idea! I’m going to wrap a loaf I made just like you suggested. I found this idea on another site, if you adhere freezer paper to the wrong side of the fabric, it will keep the bread/loaf from drying out. Thanks again!

Reply

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