A good book + procrastination + laziness = a good day to bake bread
Sometimes, math isn't so hard to understand, is it.
Let's start with the first variable: a good book. I am seldom without a book. In fact, I commonly start a sentence with, "I was just reading...." Lately, however, it seems like I've been subjected to a string of mediocre books. I'm happy to report that I am currently reading a good one: A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg. It's a memoir (should such things be written by people 10 years younger than me?) that revolves around food and the author's relationship with food and cooking. Wizenberg was the author of a popular blog, Orangette, which I had never heard of before I started the book. (I just looked it up to find that it has basically been defunct since November 2018 as the author moved on to her books, and, I see on the blog page, a podcast called Spilled Milk which appears to still be current.) Anyhoo, the book is about life, food, cooking - it's an enjoyable read and (bonus!) every chapter has a yummy sounding recipe.
Variable 2 - procrastination. I have become a master of this vice. Lately, I've been putting off doing a variety of things I otherwise enjoy, including both artwork and writing. Yes, I know, I'm writing right now, but this doesn't count. It's not the writing I'm supposed to be doing. This is fun writing. I'm supposed to be editing my book, Bachelor for Sale, which I've been putting off for a very long time. Lately, I've been procrastinating on it by writing a short story, but now I'm ignoring it, too. I'm also ignoring the painting of a heron I should be working on in my studio.
The third variable is critical - laziness. We desperately need to go to the grocery store. We're out of bread, milk, eggs, veggies (except carrots, which we have in abundance), and so on. Thane and I are both far too lazy today (most days) to go to the store, so....
The variables summed up to equaling it being a good day to bake bread. Cooking inspiration fulfilled, further painting and writing procrastination enabled, and one thing ticked off of the shopping list.
I've been losing weight the past few months, thanks to a lot of hard work, and have been trying to eat healthier. To support that goal, I've been making more whole wheat bread rather than white. Sometimes I just substitute whole wheat for white flour in my usual go-to bread recipe (the one that's permanently lodged in my brain), but today I decided to go back to Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads. If you're new to my blog, in early 2020 I decided I was going to bake my way through this tome - over 750 recipes. I gave that up after a few months - I really didn't need to eat that much bread. Today's molasses wheat bread recipe is the first new one I've tried in a long time. We'll see how it goes.
It's a fairly standard bread recipe: water, yeast, salt, flour, powdered milk. Half the flour is white and half whole wheat. The only other addition is a couple of tablespoons of molasses. I decided to halve the recipe and make just one loaf; it takes us too long to eat two loaves. I didn't have any powdered milk, so I substituted a bit of half-and-half for some of the water. I also used my Kitchen Aide mixer for the whole process rather than mixing and kneading by hand as I usually do.
I have a habit of getting to the end of a recipe and skimming the ingredients list to make sure I didn't forget anything. It's a darn good thing I did. I'd forgotten to add the yeast! It ended up going in at the very end, so hopefully it will work out. I just checked - it appears to be rising nicely. Whew!
The molasses was such a wonderful addition. The hot water warmed it up so that the aroma while it was mixing was heavenly - sweet and heady. I almost wished I were kneading it by hand to be even closer to the warmth, scent, and life. I do love the feel of good bread dough moving from sticking to my hands to becoming pillowy soft and filled with air as I knead it. The process is almost as good as eating the final product warm from the oven and dripping with butter. Okay, not that good, but close.
Post baking report: my loaf, as usual, is smaller than anticipated, and a little lopsided. I think I simply get impatient and don't want to let them rise enough. The whole wheat breads, especially, seem to need a little more time. It's still yummy, though, warm from the oven smeared with a pat of real butter. The molasses will be a permanent addition to my future whole wheat loaves. Shoot, I might even try it in a white loaf, it's such a rich addition.
Thane's first comment was, "You only made one loaf? Do you hate me?"
