Monday, March 7, 2011
Baking Bread
10:01 AM | 
Posted by
Lady Gray |
Oh to bake a perfect loaf of bread....
As silly as it may sound, the concept of bread making has been haunting me. No, I do not have a fear of carbs, but a fear of failure. Mr. Gray and I have this running joke that I would be the perfect wife when I made a successful, fluffy loaf of bread. This came about after an unsuccessful day in the kitchen when I was covered and flour and very frustrated. I explained to him that I was GOING to make a perfect loaf of bread if it was the last think I was going to do and I would treat it as if my husband's happiness depended on it! He wants warm fluffy bread so I am going to make him oven fresh bread. Although I do not believe that my proficiency as a wife is tied to my prowress in the kitchen, this challenge got under my skin like nothing has before.
If you've ever attempted to make a loaf of bread unassisted (no bread machine, no mixer), you will know what I mean. I can finally say, after two mediocre loaves that did not rise (yet still tasty) that it is difficult to recall a time I was more proud of myself. So, like most type-As, I did the only thing I knew how: practice, internet searches and a Williams-Sonoma book titled "Bread". How could I go wrong?
As silly as it may sound, the concept of bread making has been haunting me. No, I do not have a fear of carbs, but a fear of failure. Mr. Gray and I have this running joke that I would be the perfect wife when I made a successful, fluffy loaf of bread. This came about after an unsuccessful day in the kitchen when I was covered and flour and very frustrated. I explained to him that I was GOING to make a perfect loaf of bread if it was the last think I was going to do and I would treat it as if my husband's happiness depended on it! He wants warm fluffy bread so I am going to make him oven fresh bread. Although I do not believe that my proficiency as a wife is tied to my prowress in the kitchen, this challenge got under my skin like nothing has before.
If you've ever attempted to make a loaf of bread unassisted (no bread machine, no mixer), you will know what I mean. I can finally say, after two mediocre loaves that did not rise (yet still tasty) that it is difficult to recall a time I was more proud of myself. So, like most type-As, I did the only thing I knew how: practice, internet searches and a Williams-Sonoma book titled "Bread". How could I go wrong?
I am happy to report that the third time was the charm! Since I couldn't quite allow myself the naughty white loaf of bread that sounded devine, I selected the wheat bread. Knowing that wheat bread requires a little more love and a little more time to rise. I had little expectations. Especially considering the first loaf I attempted (an Andama bread) literally did not rise one milimeter. This time, I was equipped with some new weapons: bread flour and rapid rise yeast.
 |
| Already feeling good about this one... |
Even though this is not the first loaf I have made, Mr. Gray is already concerned that he will need to wait a few hours before he can try it...
 |
| Its alive!!! |
Oooooh look at that rise after 90 minutes! I'm so excited!!!
 |
| Couldn't wait for the picture, huh? |
I could blame this on Mr. Gray, but this was actually me. I got so excited about my first success at bread making that I cut a slice before taking a picture! It was totally worth it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Search
Blog Archive
About Me
My Blog List
Popular Posts
Followers
Share it
Blog Design By
0 comments:
Post a Comment