Shadows of bread, lurking in the dark.....
It was a dark and stormy night. The month was July. The year was 2000. I stood in my apartment kitchen, attempting to make bread for the very first time. I held a packet of active dry yeast in one hand, a spatula in another, and in front of me was my KitchenAid mixer. I was ready.
Three hours and 3,000 tears later, my bread "loaf" sat deflated on the counter. I looked at it in disgust. Ken looked at it and even tasted it, then stifled a laugh. I hurled it into the trash can with the fury of a baseball pitcher with a losing streak. I would not touch another bread recipe for two-and-a-half years.
Enter a new resolve, a new vision for breadmaking. Enter a new brand of yeast, SAF yeast, the cheapest on the shelves, no less. Enter a determined attitude and the patience to wait for a dry, sunny day. What do you get? A beaming redhead, carrying triumphantly her first loaf of moist, fluffy, and crisp-crusted bread to the dining room table.
The rest is history. I love making bread. Once I got over the extreme fear of the whole process, I looked at it scientifically and studied the methods. I listened to Alton Brown give his science-class description of how yeast really worked. I put away my childhood horror-filled thoughts that yeast was something that was "alive" (why would I want to eat something that was still ALIVE!?). I decided the cost of flour, yeast, and water was minimal, and that I could afford a few flops. And now I am so glad I stuck with it.
I try to stay ahead of things and bake all of our bread now. I make whole wheat-honey bread for our sandwiches. I make yeast rolls for holiday dinners. I make cinnamon rolls for special mornings. I dabble with the whole sourdough thing. I even made bagels twice. And I have baguettes rising right now in my oven to serve for tonight's dinner, piping hot and better than any you can buy at a grocery store deli. I do not discount it; it is truly an art. I used to admire and wish for the ability....now I realize how much of a treasure it is to be able to have freshly baked breads at home, artisan quality (minus the wood-fired oven and fresh wheat fields I can glean myself, of course).
Quite possibly, a good loaf of bread, a well-aged round of cheese, and a close circle of friends with which to enjoy it all is very close to heaven on earth.
Three hours and 3,000 tears later, my bread "loaf" sat deflated on the counter. I looked at it in disgust. Ken looked at it and even tasted it, then stifled a laugh. I hurled it into the trash can with the fury of a baseball pitcher with a losing streak. I would not touch another bread recipe for two-and-a-half years.
Enter a new resolve, a new vision for breadmaking. Enter a new brand of yeast, SAF yeast, the cheapest on the shelves, no less. Enter a determined attitude and the patience to wait for a dry, sunny day. What do you get? A beaming redhead, carrying triumphantly her first loaf of moist, fluffy, and crisp-crusted bread to the dining room table.
The rest is history. I love making bread. Once I got over the extreme fear of the whole process, I looked at it scientifically and studied the methods. I listened to Alton Brown give his science-class description of how yeast really worked. I put away my childhood horror-filled thoughts that yeast was something that was "alive" (why would I want to eat something that was still ALIVE!?). I decided the cost of flour, yeast, and water was minimal, and that I could afford a few flops. And now I am so glad I stuck with it.
I try to stay ahead of things and bake all of our bread now. I make whole wheat-honey bread for our sandwiches. I make yeast rolls for holiday dinners. I make cinnamon rolls for special mornings. I dabble with the whole sourdough thing. I even made bagels twice. And I have baguettes rising right now in my oven to serve for tonight's dinner, piping hot and better than any you can buy at a grocery store deli. I do not discount it; it is truly an art. I used to admire and wish for the ability....now I realize how much of a treasure it is to be able to have freshly baked breads at home, artisan quality (minus the wood-fired oven and fresh wheat fields I can glean myself, of course).
Quite possibly, a good loaf of bread, a well-aged round of cheese, and a close circle of friends with which to enjoy it all is very close to heaven on earth.
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