Catching Up

Today has been wonderful. I slept in, got up and played with the kitties, made some bread, watched some tv, and caught up with some old friends!

It is always so nice to talk to someone and see how their life is going, to share little things that you like, things you don't...conversation..its a good thing, people need to do that more.

On a separate note, anyone that has good baking skills needs to email me or comment...My bread hates me and it doesn't rise as good as it does in the original recipes. OOh well, Practice makes perfect I guess.

This is by far the best tasting bread that I have made thus far. It makes one loaf, which for 2 people is perfect!


Honey Wheat Bread

1 and 1/4 cup warm water

2 Tbsp. honey

2 tsp. active dry yeast

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 Tbsp. salt

1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2-3 cups all-purpose flour

Combine the warm water, yeast, and honey in a large bowl. Stir with a spoon to dissolve the yeast and allow the mixture to sit until the top becomes foamy. Takes about 10 minutes or so.

Mix in the oil, and salt and stir. 

Add in the whole wheat flour and mix it up. 

1/2 a cup at a time add in the all-purpose flour. Mixing until dough becomes lumpy and you can't stir it with a spoon. Toss it out onto a lightly floured surface or clean surface and start kneading in the remaining flour. A note on this: Depending on the moisture content of your environment and your flour, you may not need to use all 3 cups of the all-purpose flour. I only used about 2 cups. Just add flour and keep kneading until you have soft, elastic dough that is not sticky. Knead the ball of dough for about 3-5 minutes by applying pressure with the heel of your palm and rotating the dough in 1/4 turns.

Form the dough into a ball and put in lightly oiled bowl and set in a warm place to let rise until doubled in size. This will take 45 minutes to an hour. 

After it has risen, take it and shape it into a log shape that fits your loaf pan. Coat your loaf pan in non stick spray or with oil then place dough in the loaf pan, cover with a dish cloth or something similar and let rise again for about 45 minutes till an hour. 

Heat the oven to 425 deg F. and cut a slit down the center of the bread (the long ways) and bake for 25-30 minutes. 

remove from the pan immediately and let cool on a rack before slicing.