WHEN BAKING BREAD BECOMES A WAY OF LIFE

For many years now I have baked my own bread,it has become a routine, like a rhythm running through the days and weeks. Even our meals are arranged around the bread,sandwiches on new bread days, toast on the days when the bread is a little older,not to mention bread pudding and bread crumbs, all made with older bread.

The bread I make freezes well and these days I bake only once a a week, it seems to work very well. Today I baked two batches of bread and with breakfasts in mind I baked a honey and cracked wheat loaf which is wonderful toasted and buttered, a cheese loaf,well stuffed with cheddar and wonderful for breakfast or afternoon tea along with two split tin loaves for sandwiches,

Sesame bread is a favourite with my son and so I included a large one in todays baking ,next came a pair of sunflower topped cobs ,two sunflower topped granary loaves which find a home with a family friend. Finally a wheel of eight small triangular buns, these will be made in to chicken club sandwiches tomorrow evening.

Home made bread is easy to make,forget the recipes books and the T.V cooks who will tell you to”always use live yeast” or “make sure you allow the bread two risings or it will be hard” or even “be sure and knead the bread to thirty minutes”.All this is baloney! ANYONE CAN MAKE GOOD BREAD.

Buy a packet of easy bake dried yeast and follow the instructions or check out some of my recipes in earlier blogs. I only knead my dough for ten minutes and my bread is always good.

Fill your oven with bread once every two weeks, and you will have enough fresh bread for many meals. Rolls for packed lunches and barbecues tin loaves for sandwiches, cobs ,plaits and twists for soup meals or use as trenchers,anything is possible.

Your own home made bread will always be better than anything you can buy , even from the numerous”Artisan (how that word is bandied about these days) Bakers”;many of whom make their bread in batches too large to be truly hand baked.

Have a go,give the family a real treat and earn yourself a pat on the back....one more thing, when you make your own bread you know exactly what has gone in to it,there is even a range of gluten free flours available now. Just imagine Sunday's breakfast toast made from a loaf of your own baking. You will soon become and artisan baker in your own right..............I promise.