Today I attempted to have a mellow day, enjoying the process of making bread as part of our homeschool. So... I had good intentions, but forgot about the time change since we just returned from a mini trip to the snow, and when you're on vacation time doesn't matter until you get back and schedules impose themselves on you again. I thought I had the perfect window for a rising while we went to martial arts...but I was an hour off which I didn't discover till 5 minutes before time to leave, so I threw the rising bread (gently) in the fridge to hold it off from poofing too much. It then took a while for the bread to get back at room temperature to resume rising. Alas, it's 11:00pm, and the loaf is just out of the oven. Everybody is in bed, so no digging into a fresh loaf. A favorite event missed, indeed. Other than my timing, all went well.
This recipe from
Smitten Kitchen is easy to follow with clear directions. It is adapted from
The Bread Bible, a book I now want to get my hands on. It is a different way of making bread than I have ever attempted.
It starts with this sponge:
It ends up like this. Yum.
So, try it. Get the kids in there, too. Some of my favorite memories are the times spent baking with family. There is something old fashioned about making a loaf of bread from scratch. The messy kitchen. The warm house. The anticipation and floury hands and clothes. We live in a world that is so instant and impersonal, that it is a beautiful thing to enjoy the art of creating food together.
Is it cheating if I use the KitchenAid to make bread? Do the kids not get the full baking experience if they only get to watch the bread being kneaded?
ReplyDeleteHa. Ha. I have always used my KitchenAid, too. I really wouldn't know how to do it otherwise, and I am pretty sure most baker's use them.
ReplyDeleteGood post! Russell likes to dump the flour in from as high as he can reach and watch the "smoke". The mess is worth it:)
ReplyDelete