I head the call for Earth Day 40-40-40 pledges and knew I wanted to do something. as the main cook in our family, providing three meals and 2 snacks a day, everyday, I give a lot of thought to food. Like is there life after chicken fingers? (There's not). We've joined a CSA; we try to buy local, organic, and seasonal; we've given up most cans and plastics; and I try to cook from scratch, if possible, most of our meals most of the time. Of course, reality hits and we eat out a lot and I'm a habitue of Starbucks. I thought of pledging to give up restaurants, but I wanted to embrace a positive action, to do something, or to make something. Besides, I knew a restaurant pledge was never going to fly.What could I make that we usually buy? Bread. Sure, the stuff at the store is okay (actually, the kids think it is better! Well, except the crust), but it has high-fructose corn syrup in it and preservatives and can last for weeks without molding. And that bothers me. So, I could make all of our family's bread. Now, you must understand, I love to bake--cookies, cakes, quick breads--but I don't really know how to make yeasted breads. Apparently, my maternal grandmother made great bread but my mom never bakes. And so in a generation the skill has been lost in my family--my two attempts were mostly awful failures. And I've always wanted to make excellent homemade bread--kneading it by hand and oh, the smell of it! The crust! The crumb! So, today, I pledge on my bag of flour and my bread book that I will make all of our breads, buns, muffins, whatever for the next 40 days. Almost everything with flour. Except pasta. I'm not going there. Sure, I'll do a lot of it in my bread machine, but I'm going to practice handmade breads too. And lots of new recipes, like no-knead bread. And I'm so excited. And also glad to be able to make something so sacred and symbolic as our family's daily bread.
After church during coffee, several people came up to me with either recipe suggestions or confessions that they too wished they could bake or bake like they used to. Obviously, I'm not alone. And so I'm looking forward to sharing my experience with my church community--maybe even getting some help from the ones who identified themselves and lifelong breadmakers. One gave me a tip: let bread dough proof in the fridge if you need more time--it will rise slowly that way.
And so, I've started. We don't have any bread in the house because of our spring break trip. Sure, my kids aren't big bread eaters, but we need some in the house for toast. However, exhausted from the trip and with a thousand things to do, I'm not going to attack my first kneaded-by-hand bread. But the bread machine counts in my book. So I'm trying a new Light Whole Wheat Loaf from Beth Hensperger's Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook, since I want a whole wheat that we all can like. Already I've hit a snag: I thought it called for dry milk powder but it was dry buttermilk powder. Oh, well, this is a learning experience in more ways than one. If we even like it a little bit, I'll try making it the right way!
Some upcoming adventures:
- Cousin S's French bread recipe
- No-knead bread a la Jim Lahey of Sullivan Bakery
- Sourdough, if I can borrow starter from my restaurant friend
- Said restaurant friend's famous Oatmeal Bread
Stay tuned . . . . and wish me luck!
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Light Whole Wheat Loaf
1 cup water
1 large egg
2 tablespoons vegetable or nut oil
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons dry buttermilk powder
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon gluten
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
Place all the ingredients in the pan according to the order in the manufacturer's instructions. Set crust on medium or dark and program for the Basic Cycle; press Start. The dough ball will be moist. (Not suitable for use with a delay timer).
When the baking cycle ends, immediately remove from the pan and place it on a rack. Let cool to room temperature before slicing.
Beth Henspger, The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook
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