Bread Success!
Through the power of new, living yeast and a tweaked recipe I have had bread success! I baked a loaf of Challah last night that turned out absolutely perfectly. The crumb was soft and dense, the bread was slightly sweet and the crust was a gorgeous golden brown. I'm not ashamed to say that Daniel and I stood in the kitchen and ate almost half of the loaf while it was hot straight out of the oven. We've nibbled on it all day today, and I took a few slices to my mom at work (to brag) and now we're down to less than a quarter of a loaf left. That's not a problem. There's another batch rising in the kitchen as I type. I foresee a lot of bread making in my future.
I need some new bread making paraphernalia though. I have big items like a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, and a digital scale, but I'm lacking on the little things you take for granted like a basting brush for the egg wash and an actual loaf pan. I saw some that I liked at Target today though, they are on my shopping list for sure. I'm also planning on buying the giant block of yeast next time I'm at Sam's club. It's much more affordable than the little packets are.
The hardest part of making bread is waiting. Waiting for the dough to rise, waiting for it to cook, waiting for the bread to cool down before you cut it so you don't cause the whole loaf to get gummy from cutting too early... Bread making also appears to be habit forming. I've been unashamedly trolling through the bread tag on Food Gawker since last night, squirreling away bookmarks for later. The next projects I plan to try are yeast donuts (YUM) and a German sourdough rye bread that my Omi usually has to drive to Atlanta to get. Personally I don't like that bread at all, but it's the only bread she eats, and I'd gladly make it for her regularly to make her happy.
Aside from the bread making it's been a nice long weekend. I had today off due to Confederal Memoriate Day (a mispronunciation that Daniel will never let me live down). It's a State holiday, and I work in a State building, so ta-da, long weekend. It's back to work tomorrow though. At least I'll have fresh bed to come home to, if Daniel doesn't eat it all first...
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I need some new bread making paraphernalia though. I have big items like a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, and a digital scale, but I'm lacking on the little things you take for granted like a basting brush for the egg wash and an actual loaf pan. I saw some that I liked at Target today though, they are on my shopping list for sure. I'm also planning on buying the giant block of yeast next time I'm at Sam's club. It's much more affordable than the little packets are.
The hardest part of making bread is waiting. Waiting for the dough to rise, waiting for it to cook, waiting for the bread to cool down before you cut it so you don't cause the whole loaf to get gummy from cutting too early... Bread making also appears to be habit forming. I've been unashamedly trolling through the bread tag on Food Gawker since last night, squirreling away bookmarks for later. The next projects I plan to try are yeast donuts (YUM) and a German sourdough rye bread that my Omi usually has to drive to Atlanta to get. Personally I don't like that bread at all, but it's the only bread she eats, and I'd gladly make it for her regularly to make her happy.
Aside from the bread making it's been a nice long weekend. I had today off due to Confederal Memoriate Day (a mispronunciation that Daniel will never let me live down). It's a State holiday, and I work in a State building, so ta-da, long weekend. It's back to work tomorrow though. At least I'll have fresh bed to come home to, if Daniel doesn't eat it all first...
This entry was originally posted at http://blueinsideout.dreamwidth.org/176389.html. Please comment there using OpenID.