i did it!!!!

Real Live BREAD!

sure, i cook my own food all the time. it is so much more nutritious and so much less expensive, even for only 1 person. and basic stuff is really easy. but BAKING ... i haven't done that in YEARS (other than a very-seldom pan of brownies from a box mix for the poet). i don't even keep flour and sugar and baking ingredients in the house anymore. but i have had a hair up my tail for baking my own bread lately and yesterday acquired a bit of flour (they only had pastry flour in the bin, though. i was a little worried...), yeast and some cane sugar from the co-op. i made myself a promise that i would do it TODAY, even though i was intimidated and i DID. i used a very basic recipe from Joy of Cooking, for the first time, but i would really like to add more grains and stuff eventually.

i can report that although they are not beautiful pieces, they are each quite tasty. #1 was meant to be sort of a rustic loaf, but it sprawled out and was sort of flat, only about 2" high. the taste was fine, though, especially dipped into some sweet Spanish olive oil! now at least i'll bet i can make a focaccia!! #2 was an experiment, because i thought two loaves of whitish bread would be pretty dull. so i grated a big handful of cheddar and threw in a handful of the Hatch green chiles that i roasted last month, then froze, for just such occasions as this. i rolled it all into the dough and threw the lump in the pan and it worked! a little over-brown on an exposed cheese place on top and on the bottom another cheesy place stuck to the pan a little, but mostly ... nice!

jeez. i hope i don't eat it all tonight. it smells amazing and tastes delicious, but i'm not used to bread and i can already feel a lump in my belly just from tasting. i'm probably safe.