Bread Baking Day

 I love bread. Baking it, eating it, how it makes the house smell good, the sound of a good sourdough coming out of the oven, the way it brings people together. I enjoy the process of making bread; the mix of creativity, precise measurements, and knowing the feel of the dough you are working with meshes well with my personality. It takes time to make a good batch of bread, you have to slow down and pay attention to the dough. I get cravings to work with dough the way I crave making something with clay, and it has nothing to do with having something at the end. I have long had an idealized dream of having a bread baking day once a week to bake fresh bread for the coming week. I think I could probably do that for quite awhile before getting tired of it. Anyway, this week I was feeling ambitious and/or inspired and decided to try two new bread recipes yesterday.

The first was Russian Rye Bread, recipe twenty. This was similar to the black bread we made last weekend, but it had a higher rye to wheat flour ratio and didn't call for caraway seeds. The recipe did include dates, but I left those out. It turned out great; I love the round loaves, they look so inviting. We liked the recipe from last week better though, it was a heavier bread and the caraway seeds added a lot. I think next time I'll try the first recipe again but with the higher rye to wheat flour ratio.

Our second batch of bread was a Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread, recipe number twenty-one. This batch turned out wonderfully too, although I think I didn't seal the roll well enough on the bottom because it tends to come apart as you eat it. Oh well, still delicious. We had it warm from the oven last night and toasted for breakfast this morning. It was quite nice both ways.