Day 28: Fresh From the Oven

I cannot do a 31 Days to Home Made series without talking about one of my early projects:  bread.  Fresh, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside home made bread.

I could tell you I am an accomplished chef who spends hours every day creating the most perfectly golden loaves of bread, that I knead it to perfection and monitor it carefully to watch it double in size.

But if I told you that, 1. I'd be lying and 2. You'd walk away from the computer and never look back.

I first posted about my bread adventure here, but I don't see that I went into much detail.  I've probably mentioned it a few times, because I've been making our own bread now for close to two years, and it's so much of a habit that I hardly even think about it.

Did you catch that?  I hardly even think about it.


That's how relatively easy it is to make bread.

If you are up for this challenge, I highly recommend making an investment in

or its companion book, 

These book simplify the bread making process by making dough ahead of time and storing it in the refrigerator.  Basic bread dough can be stored for two weeks, and enriched breads with egg or butter can be stored for one week.  When you want a loaf of bread, you take out a grapefruit sized piece, stretch it into a ball, and let it rise.  Pop it in the oven and yummy warm bread comes out.  There are a couple more details, which is why I recommend the book.  But seriously, no kneading required!  The dough truly takes about 5 minutes to mix together, as does stretching.  You do have to wait for it to rise, but it is time you can spend doing other things.  

I am going to warn you, though, that fresh bread will ruin you on store bought bread forever.  I just returned from a visit to the states, and since I was am fighting jet lag, we bought a couple loaves of bread until I feel more normal and make some dough.  But can I just tell you that I am not excited about eating this store bought stuff?  And neither is anyone else, because we are eating way less of it.  I would say that maybe it's a good thing that we are eating less bread, but really, it's never a good thing when you don't enjoy what you are putting in your mouth.

If this is your first visit, welcome!  Be sure to check out my other 31 Days to Home Made posts, by either clicking here or on the button at the top of this screeen.