I remember Mama baking bread occasionally when I was a little girl. It smelled so good while it was baking and then she took it out of the oven and let it cool a bit. After Mama sliced it, my sisters and I might get a piece of fresh, warm bread with butter and home-made jam for a snack, instead of having to wait until suppertime!
Maybe it started with play dough. Mama made play dough for my sisters and me when we were young. We would play and make pretend food that we "ate" or "fed" to our dolls. I liked the feel of the play dough in my hands. Now as a grown up, many years later, I enjoy kneading the bread dough and feeling how it turns smooth after several minutes.
There are several ways to make bread. There's the "traditional" way of mixing your ingredients and kneading the dough and letting it rise once or twice, shaping, another rise, then baking. Not hard to do, but it takes some time.
An easy way to bake bread is to use a bread machine. My husband bought me a bread machine for Christmas many years ago (I'm on my second one now). He liked home-made bread; and with a bread machine I couldn't say that I didn't have time to bake bread. Basically, you put your ingredients in the loaf pan, put it in the machine, close the lid, and push the button or set the timer and later you have fresh baked bread!
Another wonderful kind of bread is sourdough, which I've been making quite a lot of lately. Sourdough breads keep better than other home-made breads. Sourdough bread is made by using a portion of the sourdough starter and adding salt, water, and flour. After mixing, let it set for at least a couple of hours. Then add more flour, knead, shape, rise, and bake. If you know about sourdough, you may also know it's good for baking muffins, dinner rolls, cakes, and sweet rolls/breads.
I've also been making no-knead artisan breads. I have the book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. I highly recommend this book. And, no, I do not receive any compensation by saying I like this book. I don't even know the authors. I have made a LOT of the recipes in this book. For folks who want delicious bread with minimal time invested, this is the way to go. The only thing to remember is that the dough is a slacker dough than most breads. These breads are similar to sourdough in this way: water, yeast, salt, and flour (and whatever else the recipe calls for) are mixed up, covered, and left to sit for 2 hours. Then the bread can baked right away or the dough put in the fridge to bake later. The book explains that the bread can be baked right away, but the dough is easier to handle once it's chilled. Take out as much dough as you want at a time, shape, let rise, then bake. A pan of water in the oven with the bread makes a crispy, artisan crust. And the aroma is heavenly!
You can make your breads unique and tasty by using different flours and/or adding other items.....raisins, cinnamon, and nuts for Raisin Bread; cheese and herbs; various seeds, other kinds of dried fruits....whatever you and your family like. You can shape your bread in a variety of ways, as well.....a braided loaf, a round loaf, a long loaf, a traditional loaf in a bread pan.
Are you hungry for home-made bread now! Well, get going! Put on your apron and get baking! Your family will love you for it!
