Bread Baking Fun

Our family had a friend stay for a week (last week) during his spring break from a local college. He was surprised to find out we make our own butter, bread, laundry detergent, and a plethora of other items.

One day he arrived back from an errand just as Emily had finished mixing up bread dough. Being the curious ever-seeking-learning-experiences college student that he is, he wanted to help finish making the bread. He was amazed that we mill our own wheat into flour, so we had to let him sample some wheat berries (the kernels before they are ground). Eating is believing.

Here he is after punching down the dough. Get ready to divide the large lump into thirds... "I do whaaaaaa?" Notice the three loaf pans below his right elbow.



Then the dough is pressed down into a rectangle, rolled up, sealed, and placed seam-side down into a bread pan. "Hey--I think I got the hang of this!" (Third loaf pictured).




Into the oven to rise (the second time), shaped into 3 lovely full-sized loaves. We let it rise in a slightly warmed oven...it speeds up the second rising. We just put the loaves in and turn the oven on to preheat. We turn the oven off after just one minute.


"Wow--making bread is a lot more fun than I thought it would be! Can't wait to make my very own PBJ using the bread 'we' made"...and that is the empirical 'we'...

~Joan