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it almost looks like it's smiling! nice job!

good work

@chiff..........deliciously evil! hahaha

HA! Love it! I'd like to nominate you for Serious Eater/ Serious Baker of the week!

That is awesome. And Amandarama- best idea ever! That would be so cute for a summer party.

Aw, geeee....

This one was a trial run. I'll be making another one tomorrow for the inlaws, so I can threaten them with "surf 'n turf."

A couple years ago, I was trying to bake bunny-shaped bread for Easter, and I learned pretty quickly that if it looks cute going into the oven, it doesn't mean it will stay that way. I had that first bunny attempt on the table at dinner time, and DH asked me, "why did you make gargoyle-shaped bread?"

So now, if I'm thinking about doing a special shape and it's a little complicated, I'll do a trial run to make sure it's possible. I bake bread a couple times a week, anyway, so it's not a big deal to practice with some shapes.

@Perky, that's so nice. That particular bread is already mostly gone. No saving of breads around here, except as photos.

Kinda nice thing about that shape is that you can get regular bread slices from the body, the claws and "arms" are sort of like buns, and the skinny legs are like crispy breadsticks. I think tomorrow I'll add a few more legs so there are more breadsticks. :-)

Madam Currie - I'm sure you make loads of different breads, but which recipe is your favorite (did you use that for these creature breads?)? I think I might be inspired to make a loaf (nothing fancy). I'll leave the Duff-like Loaves and Fishes and other creations to you.

p.s. I can't wait to hear what happens with the out-laws today. Keep us posted.

@perky, my breadmaking is pretty much unmeasured whatever I feel like it, although sometimes I'll write down a particular combination when I'm thinking it might be interesting.

My most usual addition to bread is potato flakes (or potato buds, depending on the brand) which results in a very soft fluffy bread. But I also play around with flours, sugars, and other ingredients. I've been known to root around in the fridge and toss in odd bits of leftovers, like the time I added refried black beans.

The lobster has white whole wheat, semolina, potato buds and bread flour. The sugar is unbleached cane. And I added some gluten and some malted barley.

I usually only make a recipe for one loaf at a time (seems like most recipes make 2 loaves, but that's silly for us because there are only two of us, and we don't eat THAT much bread.

The usual ratio is 2 1/2-3 cups flour, 1 cup water, 1 T sugar 1 t salt. Yeast is the equivalent of one package, but I buy in bulk and have a spoon that's the correct measure. And I add oil at the end, but I just pour. It's about 1 - 2 T, depending on my mood.

As it kneads (in the kitchenaid) I check the consistency; I know what it should look like for the bread I'm aiming for. So I might add more flour, water, or other stuff, depending.

Tonight's bread is a crab-shape, same recipe as the lobster. I took photos and will probably post a few later.

Inlaws will be here in as in under an hour. Should be fun.