The lion passant means Sterling in Britian. The Danish mark for Sterling 925 pure silver is 3 towers. Two towers means a lesser purity. If it were British Sterling (or Scottish or Irish or even from India) it would have the purity mark (lion, leopard head or seated Britiana) the date letter (always in a special cartouche and a different letter for every run of the alphabet) the duty mark (a royal's head) the city mark showing in which city it was made (leopard for London, anchor for Birmingham, thistle for Dublin...forget any others) and the maker's mark....which to the best of my knowledge was always initials. Because of the lion and the full name and the total of four marks, I suspect it could be American made during the time when silversmiths sometimes used marks on coin silver to imitate British sterling....coin is not the same purity as Sterling, only 900 parts fine. However, I couldn't find a record of any American silversmiths with the name of Schack. Linda C

Wood spoons like that will get very dry over time, especially in a damp long wash cycle. Wood is very porous when it looses its natural, original, 'when purchased', sanded surface. Some are even rough right out of the box. Usually cheaper lighter wood is used. I don't put my good ones in the dishwasher....the hardwood gifted ones. They would actually hold up better being such dense wood. I hand wash, then dry immediately, let further dry on the counter, then oil them. Not fussy. Takes no time really. You could take your woodens, i have a dozen or so, and seasonally, just 4-6 times a year, give them a quick sanding with a fine sandpaper. I have a half folded sheet in my kitchen "junk' drawer. Especially if you have a couple favorite ones like i do. Then oil them with a paper towel. It seals it, seasons it, like furniture, and they will perform better, not just cooking, but will help in releasing food by hand washing or in the dishwasher. Similar to a wooden cutting boards. They will last for years if oiled. You might like a bamboo set. Very dense and don't need much care. A couple dollars for a set. I use a bit of cast iron and use wood 90% of the time being much easier on cookware. And less scraping noise. Any cooking oil is fine for a well used one. Some oils go rancid over time if put away in a drawer. A neutral mineral oil is good for less used tools. If it feels rough to the touch it is dried out and has microscopic 'teeth'. Sticky food sticks.

Thanks, coconut. That helped me some. I used my cheapy mixer and finished with my hands. It was a very sticky dough. I chose to make the European Peasant Bread for the first try. Then I refrigerated it, covered in saran wrap with gaps on the side (they say don't make it air tight). I did this on Sunday and made my first loaf last night. But, the dough (in the container) had dry tough spots around the edges that I had to remove and throw out. I've since made it air tight. When I formed the loaf it had the texture of a down pillow and was not sticky at all. And I used lots of flour when cloaking. The loaf came out great. After cloaking, it spread sideways a little at first and then rose a little in the middle. Not much though, it was no where near double. This took 4 1/2 hours. I waited until it was just a little bit cool to the touch before scoring and baking. At first it was very cold to the touch. My kitchen and home was at 70 degrees all day. I think I should have waited a little longer but it was getting late. The loaf had just a hint of gummy texture in the very center, but not enough really worry about. It had not risen much when I put it in the oven but it rose a lot once it was in. Doubled in height. You could literally look away from the bread for 30 seconds -look back- and see the difference. It "sprang" that fast. I'm guessing that letting it warm up for so long helped. That, or the fact that it dried out some due to the gaps in the saran wrap. Also it had a mix of white, rye and wheat. So... ??? Do you all have little rising and lots of oven spring? And do you put your bread in the oven when it is still really cold? We liked it. The flavor was really good. I wouldn't call this 'easy' compared to regular bread baking - just because it's a different method and I worried over it a bit, lol. BUT it's way easier than making a starter, feeding the starter, etc. And faster too - with a similar flavor. At this point I think I'll keep doing it for a while. Unless it starts to drive me crazy with problems. linnea, the book says to work in more flour if it's too wet, so have you tried that yet? I guess they mean work it into the whole batch. Not each individual loaf...

When I first discovered cooking with wine, my motto was "One for the pot, one for the cook." Now my motto is "None for the pot, one for the cook." Of course there are a few exceptions. My how times have changed!