Forget the yeast....

It's the wheat prices that are rising...rising...rising....

King Arthur addresses the issue on their website:

Although all King Arthur Flour is milled from wheat grown here in North America, where the harvest was plentiful last year, global demand on our domestic supply has forced the price of wheat sky-high. We’re doing all we can to keep the cost of flour down by making our business as efficient as possible, but there’s simply no way for us to absorb entirely the impact of current record-breaking wheat prices

From The Herald in SC...

...The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that a bushel of wheat costs about $8.55 today, compared to $4.75 last March. Additionally, the nation's wheat stock has plummeted to its lowest level since 1947, according to the USDA.

The rising cost of doing business isn't limited to wheat. Prices for poultry and dairy products and coffee beans also are on the rise. That can be blamed on a number of factors, such as a slow economy, record fuel prices and lower production. All are bad news for the corner bakery.

From the Latte Times:

....Short supplies have raised the price of wheat worldwide and sparked protests over the cost of tortillas in Mexico and pasta in Italy. In the United States, it's raised the cost of such basic goods as bread, cereal and pizza.

...The price of bakery and cereal products rose 1.8% in February, the largest monthly increase since January 1975. Overall, the cost of eating at home has risen more than 5% so far this year, the fastest rate since 1990.

...The plight facing small bread makers like Bohbot -- and much larger businesses such as Sara Lee Corp. -- prompted the American Bakers Assn. to hold a protest march in Washington, D.C., last week.

Bakers marching on Washington. Wonder if they carried signs tacked onto baguettes.

Wonder Bread...

going through not so wonderous times.

Interstate Bakeries Corp. said today its Wonder bread brand would disappear from Southern California grocery stores after it shuts down bread baking operations in the region Oct. 29.

Kansas City, Mo.-based Interstate said it planned to close all four of its Southland bread bakeries, located in Glendale, Pomona, San Diego and in Los Angeles southeast of USC. The company will also close 17 distribution centers and 16 outlet stores.

In all, about 1,300 jobs will be eliminated.

Wonder bread was first marketed more than 80 years ago and has been sold in Southern California since at least the 1940s, the spokeswoman said. Interstate acquired the brand when it bought Continental Baking Co. from Ralston Purina Co. in 1995 for $461 million in stock and cash. - Latte Times

I remember as a youngster, the Fluffernutter sandwiches, that really, can only be made on Wonder Bread.

Dragon Slime Bread

Roz Cummins over at Gristmill has a story about creating a recipe for Blueberry Zucchini Bread that is a real hoot. And, no...the title for the recipe really is "Dragon Slime Bread!" Gotta love a recipe where instructed to "mix ingredients until gross."

Canned?....Goods!

So sayeth Nancy Silverton....bread making goddess!

Nancy Silverton is rebelling a little later in life than most. At 52, the Los Angeles chef, who translated her training at Lenôtre into a widely respected career as a pastry chef, cook and business owner, has really gotten into prepared foods. “I’d forgotten how good V8 juice tastes!” said Silverton, who spent a year combing the aisles of supermarkets and specialty stores in search of kitchen catalysts for her seventh cookbook, “A Twist of the Wrist: Quick Flavorful Meals With Ingredients From Jars, Cans, Bags and Boxes” (Knopf). “I’m waiting to get the phone call from Alice ... ,” she said of her mentor, the world-renowned food purist Alice Waters. - NYTimes