| Introducing…Sunday Stories |
| I’m trying something new, and I’d love your feedback. We thought it would be fun to introduce a new idea, Sunday Stories. It’ll be a little feature here in your inbox on Sundays…about cooking, home, family, decor, travel, or whatever else you’d like to see from me. Just reply to this email if there’s something you’d like me to feature, and I’ll get working on it. For our first Sunday Story I baked my very first loaf of bread! And it was easy, I couldn’t believe it. |
A little backstory for you…in the scary days of the beginning of the pandemic, a lovely friend of ours baked a fresh loaf of bread and delivered it to our house. It was a beautiful round loaf, wrapped in a paper bag, and still warm from the oven. We sliced into it and it was heaven, perfectly crispy outside and light and fluffy inside.
The kids were over the moon, they still talk about that loaf of bread, and remember it as the best bread they have ever tasted in their entire lives.
Now I have always loved to cook, but I’ve also always been intimidated by baking, so I just never tried it. But darn it if my kids didn’t keep talking about that fresh loaf of bread, it just made us all so happy. So I brought a book home from the shop and followed the first recipe inside titled “Easy White Bread”.
You guys, it was easy! I tried the rest and fold method and the only thing that may be construed as “hard” was that it takes time. But literally, you do one easy step and then wait and hour, and again, and then more waiting. So you do need to have a day that you’re home and you can keep going back to it.
The finished result was not the gorgeous loaf i was envisioning, but it wasn’t totally awful looking. I didn’t fold it quite right, so the pretty seam that should have been on the top sort of ended up on the side. Live and learn. It had a lovely crispy crust and a soft inside. Not as fluffy and light as I would have liked, but pretty darn good for my first try! The house smelled just incredible, and I think the photos below give you an idea of how the kids liked it!
| Next up…Baguettes! |
This time I used the mix and let it rise overnight method, and let me tell you, this is the way to go! So easy. And these baguettes came out perfect. So much more light and airy, we all loved them.
So the moral of the story is, fresh bread is the best, and it’s easy to make at home with a little time and the right directions, anyone can do it! Here’s the link to the book I used, Bread Bread Bread in case you’re inspired to pick one up.
Hope you have a lovely Sunday!
Lori
