I made sandwich bread!
Originally uploaded by riblet.
On the playground, I talk to a lot of moms. Sometimes one of them will point to another across the sand box and say in hushed, revered tone, "she makes her own bread." Those in earshot exchange serious looks that say "wow, she isn't effing around," or depending on my mood "quit making the rest of us look bad!"
I've always wanted to learn how to make bread but have either been too nervous to attempt it or couldn't really find a recipe that didn't look too daunting. After mastering two different pizza doughs, I finally got the courage to take on sandwich bread when I saw a recipe for a light wheat bread over at Smitten Kitchen. I love this site. Deb, the blogger/cook, features lots of interesting vegetarian dishes (some meat too), amazing looking desserts and tons of helpful tips and primers. This is where I found the recipe for Jim Lahey's potato pizza, the soft pretzels that Leon made for me two weeks ago and now this bread.
Let me say this: bread making wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. My trusty Kitchen Aid stand mixer did the bulk of the work. I mostly just measured the ingredients, sat back and caught up on some Lego building with Ira while I waited for the dough to knead and rise. Best thing? It came out great and I lived to tell you about it.
Psst. I make my own bread.
2 comments:
That looks so professional! Nice one, Niki!
i'm afraid to make bread, too. we had one of those bread machines when i was a teenager but the loaves were never that great -- they were always dry. then my sister emily was baking bread for a few years in her early 20s working for restaurants and cafes and the chick could whip out any kind of loaf you wanted. that skill always seemed out of reach for me since emily was also the sister who changed her own car oil, fixed the computer all the time, had the best green thumb of the siblings and sewed her own wedding dress. i'm glad to hear from a novice that bread baking isn't that hard!
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