Daily Brot

Good Morning -

Don't get used to this, or anything. I know there was a blog (novella) yesterday and now there's one again this morning, but, please, for both of our sake's, don't hold your breath or come to expect this as a daily occurrence again. I'm just not that consistent right now and I'd hate for anyone to experience that soft-blow twinge that comes with unmet expectations.

Now that we've clarified reasonable expectations (None, really. No expectations are what's best. Not just with me during this time - in life, in general, the less expectations, the better.), let's talk about the Virgen.

We all know that I have, for some time, been focused on having a little farm with goats and chickens (or alpacas and ducks, depending), a garden, a kitchen where I can make cheese and put up my garden growth, wood-burning stoves, etc., etc. We know this.

As part of my intentions for the year that will move me towards this, I decided that I am going to bake our bread each week. ("brot" is German for "bread" and is the word my partner pulls from the files of her high school German classes when I talk about baking bread.)

I love baking bread and it benefits us on so many levels. Bread from the store is over-priced, full of crap (High Fructose Corn Syrup including), and not necessarily spectacular.

(Side note: I was just looking for a HFCS link and was reminded about how evil that shit is. Evil and pervasive. Take a minute and look through your fridge and pantry. Even if you are a conscious shopper, chances are it's in places you didn't even think to look - like a jar of pickles, or Worcestershire sauce, or ketchup, or bread.)

Back to bread.

Home-made bread is full of only what you put in it, smells fantastic while it's baking, and the kneading of the dough goes a long way (for me, anyway) in keeping my hands and wrists flexible and further from the "I live and work on the computer and my right hand is constantly in Holding Mouse pose" carpal tunnel experience.

Excited about being the bread-maker in our family, I set out the first week to make a loaf of wheat. There was some apprehension because, while I can bake with the best of them, my best breads have always been more of the challa or brioche varieties and less of the standard, simple, daily loaf types.

Convinced I could do this, though, I found a good daily loaf wheat recipe and set out to make it. The first rise did pretty well, but the second did not. My dough shrunk back into itself like the freshly rejected twelve-year old boy at the junior high dance (Does this still happen in jr high? Are twelve-year olds still experiencing the drama of dances?).

Sometimes dough experiences a come-back in the warm oven, though, so I baked it anyway hoping that the heat would produce a second rise.

It did not. What resulted was a compact, dense, potential weaponry of a baked product. I've saved it, of course (I hate to waste food), and we talk with much optimism about using it for croutons or crostini or self-defense, but it certainly doesn't meet the need of daily bread for toast or sandwiches.

Choosing to blame the recipe, I set about last week looking for something better. Under the Ask and You Shall... category of things, I got a posting from a recipe blog I follow that claimed to make a great, light loaf of wheat bread.

I've learned after following this woman for a couple of years to study her recipes, look for unnecessary, HM-style steps, and then decide if they are worth it or not (before this knowing, I attempted one lazy Saturday to make her pumpkin waffles. Four hours and 80 waffles later, I committed to applying a little more scrutiny to her posts.)

This looked okay, though. I didn't have powdered milk, so substituted the liquid variety. I didn't have the flours she suggested, so used the last cup of white I had with the wheat I had purchased for the first attempt at daily bread.

And - it worked. Look below - isn't it gorgeous? My partner has had to join me in my exuberance since I pulled it out of the oven last night - Isn't to gorgeous? Look how well it rose. Don't you think it looks delicious? (She's patient and she's a trooper, she is.)

This is the weaponry from the week before, to illustrate both what unleavened bread can look like and support notions of how one might use such a loaf in self defense.

Oh, and this? I left the camera on and set it on the table while I was getting the bread out of its bag and noticed the view of my partner's glasses through the view screen. I liked it and so clicked the button. What I couldn't see from my standing position was the view down the hallway, which looks like one of those shots you'd find online in which you are invited to find the ghost lurking. That's what I see, anyway.

Here's to that. Here's to seeing what you see and sticking to it. Here's to bread that rises, here's to uncomplicated recipes and here's to taking steps towards your dreams, however you define those.