The other day I was determined to make a loaf of bread. When I visited my sister several weeks ago, to be with her for her friends wake and funeral, another one of her friends popped in for dinner with a couple of homemade loaves of bread in hand. She’d only been invited a couple hours prior and I was astounded that she came by with a beautiful lemon meringue pie and two loaves of bread warm out of the oven. I want to be like her when I grow up! I have been thinking about homemade bread ever since.
Last week I finally texted her to share her recipe so I could give it a try. She sent a picture of it right away and it was a recipe that looked like it was out of my old cooking school tome aptly named Professional Cooking which weighed about 18 pounds and cost north of $100. I got rid of it many years ago in one of my decluttering phases. It wasn’t easy to decipher on my phone so I Googled No Knead Bread (the name of the recipe) and the exact recipe was in the New York Times. But after reading through it, there was something like a 12 to 18 hour waiting period between the mixing and the baking steps. Hmm, I needed bread sooner. The No Knead Bread would have to wait for another day.
I looked around the internet and I’m always looking for recipes with the most stars (along with the most reviews) so that the recipe has been well tested and approved. I found this one and got going on it. First, of course, I needed to go to the store for bread flour and yeast. The recipe has but four ingredients (water, yeast, salt and bread flour) and using the dough hook on my stand mixer, it took only a couple of minutes to get the ingredients incorporated and to a good consistency. Two hours to rise and then the bread was in the oven baking freestyle on a baking stone. My family was impressed.
Since I wanted to be able to access the recipe again (it was delicious), I decided I would use my mostly dormant Pinterest boards to save it. There was a time when I was obsessed with Pinterest. I would spend hour upon hour seeking out my interest du jour. Whether it be decorating, fashion, cooking or general inspiration, I would always look to Pinterest for ideas, pinning away my plans for another day. Curiously, I took a stroll through the pins on my “In the Kitchen” board and it was memories of the different food phases of my life.
Many of the recipes I pinned had never been attempted but they were still appealing so I thought I’d give some of them a try. Last night I made a one pot pasta and veggie dish that was so easy and got high marks from the family. We ate it along with the homemade bread. You can just call me Martha.
Do you Pinterest?
MC
I Am Writing 