The Bridgeview Bakery

09/02/2026

I’m torn between working on consistency and trying new flavors. So I tried an “Old favorite”. 35 years ago I watched the “Frugal Gourmet make a classic focaccia… garlic, rosemary, and salt. My wife and I have enjoyed that combination since. Sadly the Frug Americanized the focaccia recipe for his audience. So I tried it with a new authentic focaccia recipe. I’m very happy with it.

I tweaked the garlic and cheese, and the apple pie with crumble recipes and they came out much better.

I do have one concern with the apple pie recipe right now. That is the extraordinarily high price of Granny Smith apples. That late frost last spring has nearly wiped the crop out making what’s left expensive and difficult to find.

What’s next… 🤷‍♂️…. I have a list of flavors I’m dying to try.

09/02/2026

Health care premiums doubled for the people Warnock is talking about.

Subsidised enrolees saw what they pay for health care rise by 114 percent on average once the credits expired. In money that is about 1,016 dollars more a year, every year.

One freelance worker described paying just under 350 dollars a month for health care before, and close to 500 after. That is one household of millions. Multiply that gap across a marketplace of more than 19 million people and the drop of five million stops looking like a mystery. The President and Congress let the subsidies lapse together, and the health care bills arrived in January.

Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, NPR

08/28/2026

Cinnamon apple with crumb topping served with homemade caramel sauce… it’s better than my photography skills…

08/23/2026

Not your average Garlic and Cheese bread Boo- Boo …. This focaccia is soft, buttery, slightly crisp and full of flavor… 5⭐️’s from my wife.

08/21/2026

You can all blame my son Garrett Hollenback for this one… he requested something sweat with fruit….

Blueberry Lemon Crumble Focaccia….

08/20/2026

Inspired by my absolute favorite bagel…. Chive focaccia with everything bagel topping… 🤤🤤🤤… it did not disappoint…

08/18/2026

Working the kinks out of my focaccia… I tried a 1/2 olive oil/ sea salt and 1/2 caramelized onion… because that’s how we roll out here in the shire… and the verdict…. I can’t be mad at either 😋🤤😋🤤😋🤤

08/17/2026

I’m always looking for new recipes. But sometimes it just hits me. I can just substitute some ingredients… dark chocolate mint morsels…. 😳😳😳 wow…

08/12/2026

S0..... what am I up to on my "break" ?????

Being a devout carbavore ....I'm baking of course and trying new recipes.

I dusted off an old french loaf recipe and made some baguettes. Then I whipped some irish butter with cream and salt for an amazing butter spread. If you haven't tried a good Irish butter, it's expensive compared to Land O'Lakes, but its worth the splurge...

I'm also working to perfect a focaccia recipe. I've tried several sourdough versions but I find them way too chewy. That sourdough "chew" isn't always a good thing. Sometimes you want your bread to be pillowy Wonder Bread soft. So I've been working on a non-sourdough version. So far I'm very happy with a basic olive oil and salt recipe I found. Although almost nothing beats chopped garlic, sea salt and rosemary on focaccia...

And Finally I harvested my organic garlic. As always I have WAY too much so I'm always on the lookout for a new garlicy treat. I may have found the best recipe I've ever made... Confit garlic in bacon fat. Then remove the cloves and pureed with butter, parmesan and gruyere cheeses ... Spread on any good fresh bread ... or an old shoe ...and either broil or fry till browned ... Oh my, seriously WOW... Probably the best garlic shoe I've even eaten. Really too bad the cottage laws prevent me from offering it for sale.

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05/11/2026

I’ll be off this week … it’s graduation time.