There must be dough in bread

Google is a poor substitute for practical experience, but this is what I've found regarding a good crust on bread.  It's all about steam and how it affects the exterior surface while baking.  The three methods I read about used a dutch oven, or misting the interior of the stove with water, or putting a tray of ice cubes on the bottom rack.  Any of those methods will work, depending how much fiddling you like to do, and may be of interest to Mr. Beagles.

Commercial bread making must be a cutthroat business.  While in the Jewel yesterday I decided to give the bread section a closer look rather than my usual quick grab of a loaf of Pepperidge Farm Cinnamon Raisin.  Between the various companies there must be more than a hundred kinds of loaves available, mostly variations of the classics: white, rye, and wheat.  There is also sourdough, multi-grain, Italian sandwich style, and others too numerous to mention.  And this is only in the sliced bread section, not counting the breads available in the deli and bakery sections of the store or the flatbreads in the ethnic food sections.

Bread is a perishable item, not like a can of beans that can sit on a shelf indefinitely, and I wonder how all those very similar products can be sustained.  What really differentiates the different brands of white bread besides price?  Is it all marketing and perception to the customer?  I know there is always loyalty to certain things, and if a buyer has always liked Butternut they are unlikely to switch to Wonder Bread, which originally built strong bodies in only eight ways.

It just occurred to me that you don't see bread advertised on TV anymore.  The Cisco Kid used to be sponsored by Roman Meal, Howdy Doody had Wonder Bread, and I think SilverCup sponsored something, too.  Was it the Lone Ranger?  Bread companies used to be big sponsors and I wondered what happened.

-----

Faced with all those bread choices I'm starting to think about the Aldi stores. which have a good variety but very limited choices.  If you want corn flakes, they only have one brand, likewise with their other products.  Their quality and prices are supposed to be good, but they are no-frills stores and you bag your groceries with your own bag.  Any experience with Aldi?  I haven't shopped there myself and I see there is one in Petoskey, less than an hour's drive from the Beaglesonian Freehold.

-----

On the philosophical front, I see there has been an uptick in chatter about the Stoics.  There was an article in one of the magazines that Uncle Ken subscribes to, and I am interested if it meshes well with his understanding of objective reality and other matters.

-----

Those armies of little kids with snow shovels are doubtful to reappear; they represent an era when children roamed free, unencumbered by adult supervision.  It's sad, not seeing kids running around being kids, free from the stern gaze of their parental units.  Maybe they still do that and are living in their own parallel world, but I haven't seen it in my neighborhood nor heard their joyous shrieks.  The alley used to be a playground, but not anymore.