Bread

I decided a few months ago that I would start cutting back on my reliance to the supermarkets to provide everything for me, you know, cakes, biscuits, that sort of thing. It's relatively easy to make scones and biscuits but the thing that I wanted to give a try and I've not had much chance so far to do so is bread. Proper, honest, good home-made bread. And I was amazed as to how many recipes there are for bread! Do I want brown, white, wholemeal, rye, pitta, foccacia...the choice is amazing and to me it gives an indication as to how many hundreds of civilisations have relied upon bread in some way or another. Except, it seems, the Far East. Apparently it's more a sign of wealth and stability to have a full bowl of rice than a loaf of bread and you know what, I kind of agree. I feel sort of wrong when I look in the cupboard and realise there's hardly any rice left.

But anyway, I digress. I looked up my Mother's ancient recipe book today and consulted it for a good, solid, honest bread recipe and I think I found it - wholemeal rolls. I don't have a loaf tin, therefore the chances of my making a loaf of brown bread are kinda slim. Heh. But I found a recipe, I measured out all the ingredients and all that jazz and I proceeded to make my bread. And it's like a video on Youtube says - it's not baking, it's not manufacturing, it's magic. What goes on in that bowl when you mix the ingredients together isn't baking, it's alchemy. You take a tablespoon of yeast and you essentially bring it to life when you add warm water. You knead the dough and you activate the magical elements inside it. You stretch and you pull that dough and it becomes something else, something wonderful. And it's therapeutic, it's relaxing, it's a damned good way of beating out those frustrations. Push the heel of your hands into the dough, pull the dough back with your fingers. Push the dough forward, pull it back and feel the texture begin to change subtlely underneath. And it feels magical. Right now, it's in the bowl again, covered in a warm cloth to let it rise. Apparently I've got to give it half an hour. I've just peeked in on it and it's not doing much. Hey ho.