My mom always made fantastic homemade bread and I LOVED it. I loved melting the butter on the tops fresh from the oven and the aroma it left in the house. It didn't sit long around the kitchen, and it wasn't uncommon for me to make a meal out of just the bread... toasted with butter, or honey, or cinnamon sugar - yum!
Last month at my grandmother's birthday party, my Aunt Debbie made all of Grandma's fave foods and homemade wheat bread was part of the spread. Of all the tasty treats there, that was my preference. Since it's been chilly lately, I've been craving a little whole wheat toast and hot chocolate for dinner and called Aunt Debbie for her recipe.
'It's so easy' she tells me. She emailed me the recipe with a few tips and thoughts and merrily I was off to make some delicious, homemade wheat bread. If only I owned an apron, it would have been perfect.
Sadly, this is what I was left with:
How pathetic is this? It didn't even rise, so I didn't bother to cook it. I'm feeling pretty badly, I must say. I've never really watched anyone make bread, so there could be any number of reasons how this came to be.
- My yeast was slightly expired, but just by a few months. The package said this just might make it raise slower (or not at all apparently).
- Is it possible for the water to be too hot when added to the yeast?
- The recipe calls for 5 - 51/2 cups of flour in addition to the other 5 cups. Aunt Debbie's tip was that she usually needed more, to just watch for mixture to be cleaned from inside bowl... maybe mine wasn't.
- Another tip - let knead for at least 10 minutes until smooth and a little blistery - I'm not certain I know what blistery looks like.
- I think that even though I cut the recipe in half, my mixer was not man enough to take it - it was practically smoking by the time the kneading was done.
- My house was not warm enough for it to rise.
Who knew bread dough could be so temperamental? I hate that I suck at bread making. The domestic goddess inside me is longing to be set free! Well, if I ever have a successful attempt, you bet that I'll post it. I think that I'd better get some more tips before then.
My latest attempt was NOT a failure. Thank you very much. Even the kids were cheering!
My mom always made fantastic homemade bread and I LOVED it. I loved melting the butter on the tops fresh from the oven and the aroma it left in the house. It didn't sit long around the kitchen, and it wasn't uncommon for me to make a meal out of just the bread... toasted with butter, or honey, or cinnamon sugar - yum!
