There is something so hopeful about making bread.
I've made it a few times for this blog:
It's a little bit different every time, even if the ingredients are exactly the same.
Maybe it's a different time of day.
Maybe it's cooler in the house than it was last time.
Maybe it's snow-bright instead of cloudy.
Maybe it was a bad day and pounding the dough into itself is a good outlet for frustration.
In any case, it's something you can do over and over again, and it doesn't exactly fix all your problems or make you see the world in a new light, but...
There is something about having a new loaf ready for the knife that makes me feel better.
So, without further ado, here's another loaf.
One day, I will have a kitchen that has massive windows, and I will make all my food in the all-encompassing matrix of ethereal natural light that instagram and Saveur magazine have taught me to expect.
But that day is not this day. Anyway.
Two flours, 3 additives. Sesame seeds, oats, and poppy seeds.
Two sugars: muscavado here,
and molasses here.
Molasses, brown sugar, yeast, and a bit more than a cup of warm water, all go into three cups all-purpose and 1 cup Longspell Point Farms red wheat.
I add seeds and oats when everything is still shaggy. After a five-minute knead:
Covered and left to rise for an hour or two:
And after 45 minutes in the oven at 350:
I flipped the dough ball directly into the pot, so all the flour on the bottom is now on the top. Pretty neat. I think I'll keep doing that.
Till next time!
