A currently running commercial for a fast food sandwich claims to be made on “Artisan Bread”.

Being an artisan myself, I was initially outraged at the thought of calling a product mass produced to supply thousands of restaurants “artisan bread”. After all the definition of artisan is a skilled craftsman, not skilled machinery.

On doing a bit of research it turns out that it is actually an uncommon name for a very common product - sourdough and other types of breads using a starter in place of yeast. It is probably the most common type of bread available from the invention / discovery of bread up until the commercial availability of yeast in the 1900’s.

So much for rightous indignation, but I still can’t accept calling a mass produced product artisan bread just because it is made with a recipe similar to that used by artisans to make it by hand for thousands of years.

Two new Candle Making projects have been uploaded to the site:

Cobwebbed Candle Project - A surface technique for adding texture easily.

Window Candles Project  - Use over dipping and a cookie cutter to create these unique candles.