Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking
Taking the stress out of living thoughtfully in the modern worldYes You Can (Part III)
Oh my god. You’re still in Night One. Your dough has been rising for 22 days. Assuming, that is, you rushed out to the store and stocked your pantry and then dove into the first night of a two-day slow rise when I first posted.
Forgive me for leaving you so long in dough rising suspense.
Night Two: Nap and Bake
Your second evening of work will require your presence for at least two hours, and your active attention for about 30 minutes.
When you get home from work, the first thing you should do (after you let the dog out) is punch down the gigantic puff that’s become your dough. Literally, use your fist and smash down the double sized-dough bubble in the bowl to release all the gasses produced by your yeast. Don’t be sad—it’s normal to have punch anxiety.
helloooo dough puff
Grab and grease two medium sized loaf pans with either butter or olive oil.
Dump the dough onto the counter and knead it for about a minute.
Lil' Knead
Then slice it in two.
double dough
Shape each half into a rough rectangular shape about the same length as your loaf pan. Peel the rectangle off the counter and fold it lengthwise like a taco, pinching together the seam.
taco time
Place that sealed taco seam-side down in the greased loaf pan. Repeat with the other dough rectangle.
ready for 2nd rise, or more importantly, your 1.5 hour break
Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and stick the loaf pans in the cool oven, keeping the oven off. The pilot (if you have a gas oven) creates the perfect temp for the final rise. My house is chilly in the winter and the open countertop doesn’t work well for the final rise. If your house is not gas powered, turn the oven on, let it reach 200° F and then turn it off. Stick the loaves in after the oven has been off for at least 10 minutes.
break time in bread land
Make dinner, take a nap, check your Facebook page, do whatever…Your bread needs this time to make its final rise in preparation for baking.
After your break, the loaves will have doubled in their pans.
dough poking up through the cello wrap
Take them out of the oven, if that’s where they’ve been rising, and preheat the oven to 450°. Bake for 10 minutes on 450° and then reduce heat to 350° and bake for about another 20-30 minutes. All ovens vary in temperature and heating patterns, so rotating your loaf pans to various places in your oven will ensure the loaves are cooked uniformly.
After 20 minutes at 350°, I stick my thermometer in the corner of the loaf just to be sure my oven hasn’t gone wild. Take the loaves out when the thermometer reads 200-205° internally. Drop your loaves out of the pans immediately and place them to cool on the rack. Note the hollow sound when you tap the bottom of the loaves; this is another sign of doneness.
done!
First Timin’ Tips
Baking a loaf of bread from scratch may be a first and a last for you. It’s important to make it special and not stressful. Here are a few tips and words of advice for you keep in mind:
1. Though any day will do in the future; give yourself some room on the first attempt. Select a day where you’re not in a time crunch, perhaps a lazy weekend afternoon?
2. Call at least one girlfriend to join you. Said girlfriend does not actually have to be involved in the baking process, but you need a warm body in the room. Gal pal may be substituted for your spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend. My good friend came over, made tea, and sat at my kitchen table keeping me apprised of all the important things I needed to know going on in her life—from celebrities she sees in her neighborhood to the blue dress she just couldn’t seem to find. She was invaluable in helping me not take myself so seriously (and keeping flour out of my computer keyboard) as I scrupulously followed a recipe.
3. Pick a recipe and stock your arsenal in advance. The internet is a great source for recipes and identifying the 500 different ways you might consider making the same exact thing.
4. Recipes are meant to be broken. I’m recipe-phobic; give me a set of instructions and I’ll start devising a way of altering or avoiding them. Give yourself some room to interpret one person’s method into one that works well for you.
5. Clean and sanitize your countertop before getting started, so you don’t have to worry while you’re elbow deep in flour and transitioning from mixing to kneading.
6. Don’t try to knead your dough on a cutting board, no matter the size or material. Unless your board has industrial strength suction cups, you’ll end up frustrated.
7. Pretty apron (optional)
8. Make tea (or margaritas) to make it official; a drink of some sort helps you remember that you are having fun.
9. Don’t cut the bread until it has cooled completely (approx. 40 minutes) since it is still developing flavor in the cooling process.
Don’t forget about the exciting things you can do with the fruits of your labor!
Grocery shopping: no waste method
My musing on grocery shopping, perfectly timed with the New York Times’ cover story today.
“Is that an iPhone?”
“Yes,” I answered, revving up for yet another glowing review of the marvels of modern technology. When the question, “Do you like it; is it really all that great?” didn’t appear to be dropping out of his mouth, I looked up.
“And you’re paying with Food Stamps?” condescendingly oozed out of his mouth with an icy stare to accompany it.
“Yes. We’re a full-time student and freelancer household; what’s the problem?” trying to not sound defensive, and failing miserably.
“It’s just ironic. It doesn’t really fit with the idea of poverty.”
I seethed in silence and grabbed my receipt.
Later that evening, the perfect retort materialized, “Perhaps you would like to rummage through my groceries to ensure my other consumer choices are up to par with your vision of poverty.”
My first year in New York City went pretty much just how I expected, a slideshow of random, odd jobs (dog walking, kid schlepping, paid research studies), grizzly editors demanding rewrites, and plenty of bustle. I didn’t anticipate living below the poverty level, though. My girlfriend was a full-time student at a school we couldn’t afford and my odd jobs barely kept my half of the rent, my own student loan and the villainous iPhone bill paid.
Sure, I could switch back to my old phone carrier, the one I left for AT&T (grrrr) while working a full-time job in Austin, Texas. And they would even handle the contract fees for an abrupt switch in the name of poverty. However, I don’t think that extra $30 above and beyond my previous bill is going to make waves of fortune appear in my monthly bank statement. Nor will that old phone enable me to do writing work from the sidewalk by the UN in midtown Manhattan on some document whose deadline was inevitably a week before it came to me. Alas, this isn’t a post on the ethics and mores of poverty and the working poor, it’s about grocery shopping. So let’s get down to business.
We applied for food stamps after a student friend of ours said we’d probably qualify. My girlfriend passed in our qualifying interview with flying colors, though she still had to show that she had a part-time job (which she did.) My situation was a little trickier, I had to provide letters from the people I was freelancing for that showed a rate and number of hours per week or month. I lied and told my “clients” that I needed it for tax purposes, because who wants to hire a freelancer who’s on Food Stamps? [insert STIGMA here]
We were able to do it right and apply as the household, since that’s what we are. Two adults who share a fridge, and three meals a day. We received a little blue credit card with my girlfriend’s picture on it, and a new acronym EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer.) Each month $201 would appear in our online balance.
We learned really fast how to buy food for the week. The only relationship I’d ever shared with grocery shopping involved the nasty habit of overbuying and then pitching out the decaying and compost-looking food two-weeks later. We did not have the luxury of waste (nor should anyone really, but that’s another story.)
We identified a meal or two each week and bought the staples, stocking up for turkey sausage risotto or burger night. More importantly we made a list before going to the store.
We purchased proteins:
-tempeh
-overstock meats that hit the freezer
-beans
-all-beef, grass-fed hotdogs
Then we looked for 2 accompanying greens for the week:
-collards
-dandelion greens
-spinach
-chard
-kale
-broccoli
While in this area of the store, don’t forget to populate your cart with a few staples, onions, garlic, maybe carrots or other veggies that you’ll actually use in the week. Remember: you can come back to the store next week. You’re not packing in for nuclear fallout, not yet at least.
We keep grains on hand in quart-sized mason jars since they don’t really go bad like the previous two categories. The mason jars keep the freshness by sealing out our pantry air. We always have an adequate supply of rice, quinoa, amaranth, arborio rice, and corn (for stovetop popping.)
With those three categories – proteins, greens and grains – you start to see the meals popping out, and the produce that’s on its way out trumps (or shapes) your gastronomic whims. Beyond dinner meals, think about what you will eat for breakfast. Maybe eggs, granola, cereal, grits, toast, breakfast tacos, etc. Grab a couple options because breakfast monotony is a tedious way to start your day. Eat something you’re hungry for; set yourself up for success by actually having that in the house.
We buy eggs, milk, half & half, olive oil, almond milk, raisins, nuts, coffee, spices, flours, chocolate bars (!!) on an as-needed basis. Sometimes our planning is off and we go to the bodega to grab milk or half & half.
The key to all this is planning and knowing what you have in the house already. Consider using your fridge less as that big white thing collecting crumbs and grime in the corner and more as the source for what you eat each day.
Food stamps taught us, two adult women, that we can eat well (non-GMO, some organics, and a lot of local or farmers market produced items) for just about $250/month. Check it: That’s roughly $8.33 PER DAY for TWO ADULTS. Two people can eat from home all month for what it costs to buy TWO lattes every day.
Here are a few places that help us and others keep grocery costs low:
1. The ever-controversial Park Slope Food Coop. Although I’m in the minority of people who don’t find it difficult to commit myself to 2.5-2.75 hours PER MONTH to pay only 21% mark-up on everything from my Weleda face cream to radishes, some folks, nevertheless, scoff at this enterprise. Typical grocery mark-up can be 200-400%; yes, I pay $8.46 for Xantham gum that is $13.99 in nearly every other store. Those dollar differentials do add up. An added perk of working alongside fellow Brooklynites: I met my agent via the Coop. I haven’t seen another coop as organized as this one, but they’re starting to pop up in neighborhoods who are tired of the current food system and want better for their bodies and their pocketbooks.
2. Whole Foods Market 365 brand for large monthly purchases like olive oil or cat food. The WF also occasionally has overstock, thus good prices on humanely raised meats.
3. Trader Joe’s cash purchase/rebranding efforts make their products cheaper for consumers.
4. CSA’s – Community Supported Agriculture is available everywhere. How it works: you ‘buy in’ to a farm with an annual payment (usually between $200-$350 a year) and you get a box full of locally produced fruit and veggies grown on the farm each month (or during growing seasons.)
There are so many more creative solutions to eating well on a budget, but they involve a little more foresight and in many cases a little extra legwork. Can you dig it or does that bland deli sandwich really make your day?
We no longer need food stamps, now that we both leveled out with steady, decent-paying work. But we still spend less than $300 per month on three meals a day from home, and we eat so well!
Kitchen Permaculture
I should expand the clearinghouse list, from 101 things to do with canning bands to 101 ways to make do with what you’ve got. Kitchen Permaculture, if you will. I feel a new category coming on to warehouse all these on-the-spot creations: Improvise your way to fancy.
Here begins the expanded (and running) list:
1. Make a canning rack out of extra bands (see above link)
2. Create a bread cooling rack out of canning bands (see above link)
3. A double boiler made out of a canning rack proper uses steam from a pot that’s already cooking something else. This doubles up as an energy saver, too. Not firing up an extra burner saves you money and time. Be careful with this one since your canning rack likely won’t fit snugly on top of the cook pot; steam creates a slick surface so make sure the top pot is really stable (if you must step away from it for any reason.)
the ingredients are stacked in pie's favor
4. A canning rack makes a fabulous pie transporter.
Beam me up sweet potato.
Adding to this list is going to be fun; feel free to chip in with your own fabulous improvisations!
Black Friday
A frenzy for thoughtlessness. Here are a few things you can’t buy at the store.
keeping an eye on Fall, from the stoop
the Fall takeover, yellow encroaches from the top down
A view rarely seen in the electronics aisle at Target
An exploration of color: newest exhibit up at Prospect Park
sponging up beautiful things for future use
Enjoy your day.
Turning decor into dessert
We went pumpkin crazy as the days before Halloween dwindled. Unable to find a good carver for a spooky Jack-O-Lantern, we snatched up three sugar pumpkins from the Farmers Market and two medium-sized green, warty ones from the bodega.
This girl's crazy about pumpkins, just like us!
Look who appeared at the Halloween Day Farmers Market in a clearing between the dogs and children parading around in their costumes…the final member of our pumpkin plethora.
Pumpkin-ess
We didn’t eat the carver’s meat (because we melted a wax candle in it, and the fumes that get baked into the walls aren’t good to eat.) But we ate the pepitas! Roasting the seeds from a pumpkin (of any size) is really easy.
Here’s what you do:
1. Scoop out the seeds into a colander.
2. Remove the stringy and pulpy chunks; there should be no more orange in the pile.
Rinse the seeds and pitch the stringy bits
3. Spread out the seeds on a towel- or paper towel-covered cookie tray or a pan large enough to so that no seeds are on top of others.
4. Leave the pan in your cool oven to dry overnight. If you’re in a rush, ditch the towel and throw seeds on tray in the warm oven (200 degrees) for a few minutes until they’re dry and then follow directions below.
The dry cycle
5. Remove towel and seeds from tray or pan. Grease the tray with a little olive oil (or any preferred oil) and drop the seeds back on the tray.
6. Sprinkle some sea salt (and other spices/flavorings if desired) and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.
7. Eat your healthy homemade snack between meals or make a pipian sauce from them if you’re feeling fancy.
Pumpkins make great wintertime fare since they last a long time in cool, drafty rooms, top pantry shelves or mud rooms that catch winter drafts. You don’t have to build your own root cellar outside or in the basement to enjoy extended periods with your veggies, just keep them away from the heat.
There are three different ways to puree a pumpkin for baking pies and breads or making soups. I’m not going to detail the process because this site gives an excellent how-to for all three. This blog also has a good sugar pumpkin puree recipe, the baking method shown in detail. The merits of roasting/baking your pumpkin are the retained flavors that will enhance soups or other recipes where the pumpkin is prominent. I find the boiling method equally effective yet much faster; it’s a good method for pies and other recipes where you’re going to mix the pumpkin with other strong flavors.
meat from shell
Guess who got to lick the spoon?! Orange dog likes all things orange, pumpkin included.
Two small sugar pumpkins made a quart-sized bag of puree.
Eyes on the prize
I found this on my walk home today. Best roadside find in New York since the vintage dresser, oh, and the sturdy kitchen bakers rack shelving.
I love my neighborhood!
A real whammy of a prize in three [A]renas:
1. Aesthetics
2. Accoustics
3. Actual handwash laundry (I’ve always wanted to try using one.)
I mean, really. All it takes is a little extra attention, one day a week. Or sometimes once a quarter (bulk pick-up day is a great day for scavengers!) Get with the program and tell me about the exquisite prizes you find.
the amazing Atlantic
Piece de Resistance
No. It’s not a newspaper or leaflet.
Nor a swag placard from the former union, a relic of a marriage started the year of my birth and culminating as I entered high school.
Nope.
It’s a pretty plate!
Who wouldn't look forward to taking meals or treats from this little gem?
William Morris pretty much covers this post already, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” I bought this plate years ago from a sidewalk sale in San Francisco, grand total: $3. See, the act of thoughtfully populating your domain doesn’t mean spending more money.
An affinity for certain everyday items might inspire you to use them more often. I look forward to making breakfast at home because Charles and Di’s lovely faces await my eggs and toast or gluten-free pancakes on the weekends. I can’t wait to have friends over for a meal because setting the table with things I adore is fun.
jewels of coffee and tea time
I got one of these as a gift, and the other two are thrift store, less-than-$1 finds. Why would anyone go down to the deli and purchase an ugly paper cup with jewels like these laying around? Buy a french press and make your own coffee. It will save you money, you’ll drink better coffee and you get an extra opportunity to sit down and enjoy your space.
Selecting things you love each morning or evening connects you to your domain. I’ve picked the winner for this morning’s cuppa joe.
cheers!
Even if your home style is more modern and uniform, select matching sets and designs that you will look forward to using everyday. Notice the curve of your glasses, the color of the plates, the weight of a good mug. Select with more intention rather than just getting stuff because you need something in the cabinets. Select with YOU in mind.
Yes You Can (Part II)
As I try to tell you how NOT confusing this whole bread from scratch thing is, I realize that my series’ numbering system is sorta confusing. You have your supplies already because you read this, the first post in this series, so now you’re ready for Part Deux or Night One (see? confusing, I know.)
This is a two day recipe. [Breathe here] All that really means is that you have two short, after-work activities for two separate evenings. This is not a whip it up and have something on the table in two hours kind of recipe (those I find unreasonable, and sort of unmanageable since I’m less likely to cook the rest of dinner after something like that.)
So, Night One begins:
Your first evening’s work will require about a half hour of your time. Are you ready?
Easy Honey Wheat Bread Recipe, Slow Rising
Adapted from the Joy of Cooking (my new favorite book, really)
In a large mixing bowl combine the following:
2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast (you will need two yeast packets, since packets usually contain 2 ¼ teaspoons)
2 ½ Tablespoons room temp water (between 80 and 105° F)
Stir the yeast so all of it dissolves in the water; this may require a finger or two to get the gummy yeast off your spoon. You know it’s dissolved when it becomes an opaque liquid and there are no more clumps of gooey yeast floating around. Let this sit while you measure the rest of your ingredients.
Pour in the following dry ingredients to the yeast water:
1 ½ cups whole wheat bread flour
1 ½ cups all purpose white flour
1 Tablespoon salt
Then stir in the wet ingredients to get your dough started:
2 Tablespoons honey dissolved to a liquid in ¼ cup boiled water*
1 Tablespoon melted butter
¾ cup cold water
*You may substitute with 2 Tablespoons of sugar; just add an extra ¼ cup of cold water.
At this point the dough will be very sticky and increasingly difficult to stir with your spoon. I usually ditch the spoon and start using my hands in the bowl before I add in the following:
1 cup whole wheat bread flour
1 cup all purpose white flour
It may seem like you can’t possibly add more flour, because the first batch of flour is barely absorbed. Just use your hands and work it in in small amounts. You can mix these two cups of flour together before adding them to the dough mixture if you’d like, but it’s not essential. The dough should be a more cohesive ball, and I usually dump it out on the clean counter to assess the flour intake situation. I rarely use the entire two cups here, so it’s important to slowly add in the flour and not just dump it all in at once. The consistency you’re looking for is a firm, not sticky lump. If the dough is still sticking to your hands or to the counter, you should continue to add flour.
Your dough ball is going to be firm and tight at first because you just packed a bunch of dry flour into it. Just like an inactive muscle, you’re going to warm it up by kneading.
Time to Knead!
the blob, note the bread machine and the mixer in the background, neither of which are necessary (nor desirable) for this recipe.
Kneading your dough allows the flour to develop its gluten “muscle” strength. As you work your dough it will become stretchy and more elastic, a perfect shell to house millions of yeast-produced carbon dioxide pockets. Yum.
First, dust a little flour on the clean countertop. Kneading is easy; there’s a little method involved, but you may personalize your kneading style as you get more practice. Just fold the dough over itself (like a taco) and then work it flat with the heel of your hands (lower palm.)
flatten it
make a taco
now, repeat
Pick up the big pancake-looking thing, flip it over and then repeat the taco roll and flattening, over and over again. Every now and then pick the dough up and slam it down on the counter with a big whack! The kitchen counter is probably a little high for the average person, since you want to use your whole body to push down on the dough, but it works just fine. I knead on the counters because I don’t have a sturdy, thigh-high table at my disposal.
Turn on some music and work that dough. Knead for 10 minutes, or for about three songs (depending on what type of music you’re listening to.)
Things to think about while you knead:
+Ancient Egyptians sometimes used their toes to knead bread dough. Can you imagine?!
+Bread making has been the responsibility of both men and women throughout various cultures’ histories, a domestic task for either Him or Her.
+French women dropped balls of dough in baskets and placed them under the “conjugal bed covers” to let the yeast rise. Bread in the bed!
+Breathing: are you still doing it? Kneading is an excellent time to make up for all the breathing you didn’t do earlier in the day. Try taking slow deliberate inhales and exhales while you work out a rhythm with the dough.
+What a great arm workout you’re getting (and you didn’t even have to brave traffic or transit to get it!)
Rise and Shine!
Now, here’s where you get to take the rest of the night off. Your dough is still on the counter relishing its post-knead workout and you have a pile of dirty dishes, a mixing bowl, measuring cups and spoons, staring at you from the sink. I only have one large mixing bowl, so at this point I have to wash it.
Once the bowl is washed and dried, I add roughly one teaspoon of olive oil, roll it around (or spread with my hands, a bonus cuticle moisturizer!) Then, grab your dough ball, drop it in the bowl and flip it over once, so both sides of the dough are glazed with oil. Cover it with a towel and put the bowl in the fridge for the night.
to the fridge!
When you leave for work the next morning, set the towel-covered bowl out on the countertop to rise at room temp all day. Your yeast will be working all day, just like you.
Birthdays, Oaxaca and Muertos
It’s my dear’s birthday tomorrow. It’s also Dia De Los Muertos, my favorite holiday. The next best thing besides being in Mexico is baking something Oaxaca-esque.
Dressing up as Frida for Halloween also helped beat the not-in-Mexico blues.
Kahlo Kate
Back to baking. I wanted a simple chocolate cake situation since I’m easing into this whole domesticity thing, since I don’t know how to work this Ferrari of a mixer that lives on my counter. As my late 20’s ensues, I’m noticing more KitchenAid mixers popping up on married friends’ countertops. Registries work for the prevailing philosophy: Apparently you’re hitched and now you shall provide baked goods for your family.
It’s illegal for me to get married where I live (and in 44 other US states), so I received my fancy mixer as a birthday gift this year from a mother who was tired of hearing me complain about inequalities and basic civil rights and stuff. These machines are really cool (and really expensive.)
As I hunted for recipes, everyone on Twitter kept telling me to use this or that mix, but I was itchin’ to make a scratch cake. I don’t eat wheat (gluten) so my desired simple chocolate cake situation also had to be gluten free. I found the right recipe via Gluten Free Mommy. It even has “no frills” in the title; this was the real clincher for me. My kitchen isn’t really equipped for frills (beyond the mixer); I just don’t have room for excess tools. Plus, I’ve tried a few of her other recipes and they’re simple enough to follow and I always get good results.
As I plotted my plan of attack and shopped for a the supplies not already in my cabinets, I decided to multiply the recipe by one and a half. I wanted to make cupcakes on the side, why not?
Three things happened as I worked through the recipe:
1. I decided that this is probably one of the easiest baking experiences I’ve had (including baking with mixes.) Yes, really. Since I didn’t have a 9X13″ pan, I used a springform pan, something I bought at a garage sale years ago because I thought it was pretty. Who knew it would make a beautiful (and easy to eject) gluten free cake?
2. I invented my own Oaxaca frosting, which boosts ones confidence in cooking, I think. I followed the “simple icing” recipe which came with the “no frills” cake recipe above. I just added a half teaspoon of cinnamon. I also had some leftover chocolate from our last Oaxaca trip and sprinkled it in the chocolatey goodness at the end. YUM!
3. The sideline cupcakes were a perfect idea; I had double the rewards for the same amount of mess! I used your average mini cupcake tin for these.
cupcake for your thoughts
Oaxaca frosting
You'd never even guess this thing doesn't contain the elusive gluten. Notice the canning band cooling rack?
This seems very basic: follow recipe, get good looking (and tasting) things. Well, I’m not good at following recipes, but I managed this one! And I wasn’t stressed out. I could’ve done this recipe without the mixer for sure. In fact, at one point I wasn’t sure my 1.5x recipe was going to fit in my mixer bowl, or rather that it wasn’t going to shoot cocoa at me while i poured in the flour mixture.
By giving this recipe a shot, I’m doing something special for the person I love. I’m honoring people who are no longer with us by taking my time and making something with my hands (and a fancy mixer.) Maybe I’ll give some of these little cupcake treats away to friends, maybe my dear and I will eat them all ourselves, who knows? We had to try them out for dessert tonight, of course.
yum!
When I present this fine cake to my lady tomorrow, I’m not sure who’s going to be happier, she or I?
Gluten Free Chocolate Cake with Oaxaca Frosting!
Give this recipe a shot; take a little break from your regular gluten intake. Let me know if you have questions as you attempt it (or another recipe you might have found.) I’m fairly new at all this stuff, but I’m happy to share what I know so far!
P.S. Don’t be alarmed! The pricey xantham gum will last you a number of exciting gluten-less recipes. It’s the one ingredient that converts gluten-free flours into gluten-like results.
Yes you can (part 1)
…make bread.
Ok. So, let me tell you my deepest, darkest secrets: I don’t like to cook. Recipes stress me out. I don’t read gourmand blogs/articles. I don’t like when people use the word “phenomenal” in reference to food, or ever, really. I’m not a “foodie”. I’m still shocked when people refer to me as a food blogger.
That said, I think you can make bread. If I can do it (and not hate it), then so can you. Let’s talk pro’s for a minute:
1. There is no one right way to make bread. It’s pretty hard to mess up bread, and if you do, a toaster and some jam usually fixes the problem.
2. You don’t need any fancy supplies or expensive equipment.
3. The slow-rise (arguably best-tasting) method is actually most convenient for busy people.
4. Kneading and working with dough is an incredibly satisfying, stress-relieving activity after a long day’s work (for nearly all professions.)
5. Making your own bread is cheaper than purchasing bread of the same nutritional value, and without all preservatives and junk in most store-bought bread.
6. You get free air freshener by baking at home!
I haven’t been able to come up with any con’s so far. So, what are you waiting for?
Gather your supplies in advance (so as to not turn this into a whole day affair.) Here’s what you’ll need from the store:
~1lb whole wheat bread flour
~1lb all purpose white flour
two yeast packets
salt
sugar or honey
little bit of butter
some olive oil
And for equipment:
-Do you have loaf pans? Don’t fret if you don’t; nearly all grocery stores have them for about $4 or $5. I recommend the medium size (8.5 x 4.5″) since most recipes will fill two; they look like this:
loaf pans and my friend Mr. Butter
-Standard mixing bowl
-Wooden spoon
-Clean counter space (for kneading)
-Kitchen towel or tea (if your granny placed one in your care) towel
-basic (cheap) kitchen thermometer
-rack of some sort (I make my own out of canning bands, see below); other good substitutes include a wire, office paper bin, your hanging fruit basket turned upside-down, anything that will allow air to reach underneath your finished loaves while they’re cooling. Be creative; don’t just rush out and buy a bakers rack.
my makeshift cooling rack
Since you’re busy, we’re going to stretch this process out. By preparing the dough the first night and baking on the second, you’re setting yourself up for success with two manageable tasks each night.
Go gather your supplies. Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 for the actual recipe and helpful hints as you attempt to follow it.
