Glad You Asked

Soon it will be spring time on the farm and I will be able to entertain and enlighten you about all matters agriculture.

But not yet. Brian is still hauling grain to town (prices are down, down, down) and fixing things here and there. They ordered chemicals the other day, but nothing too exciting.

So what is exciting? So glad you asked. The answer-- watching bread rise.

Yep. It's my new favorite pastime. Yesterday I got one of the best loaves yet! If you haven't heard about my obsession, check out No More Bricks at http://www.breadclass.com/. If you have heard about it-- why aren't you baking bread!!! Last night I made bread bowls and Tuna Chowder. It. was. so. good.

Seriously. Join me.

No More Bricks!

For Christmas my mom gave me this book, "No More Bricks" by Lori Viets. I guess I should preface that statement by telling you that for several years now I have attempted to make all of our families bread from scratch. I knew bread from the store contained preservatives and whatever else and I figured homemade bread would be much healthier.

I started out with a bread machine from a garage sale. It served me well for a few months, and then my average loaves turned to poor. I think the machine stopped working, but if you've ever used your whole wheat setting, you probably already know its not good for much.

So I borrowed a book from a friend about baking whole wheat bread-- no white flour at all! It had amazing information about how gluten is formed and why you need to keep the yeast at the right temperature and how to pre-warm all your utensils so they'll be the right temperature too. It was great-- except I literally had to allow four hours from start to finish. Which meant some days we went without bread until I had time to make it again. And it called for ingredients I don't use often, like plain (not vanilla) yogurt, which I had to buy in bulk and usually went to waste before I could finish a container.

I did discover, thanks to this book, that there are different types of flour. Hard wheat, soft wheat, red wheat, white wheat. I spent time in the health food store and eventually figured out I like hard white spring wheat (called Prairie Gold) best. It even worked in the new bread machine my in-laws gave me.

But then! Enter the new book. My parents know Lori from church and my mom is very excited about homemade bread ever since she took Lori's class. After reading the book, I understand why. Instead of a awkward bread machine loaf, or spending four hours in complicated bread making methods, I can flip to the "master" bread recipes (already the book opens to that spot) and finish the best tasting whole wheat bread ever in 70-90 minutes. It is amazing!

If you're interested, Lori's website is Knead to Know and you can purchase this book there, as well as lots of other bread making supplies. Its also full of information as well as that master recipe I was telling you about. Even if you just want to make the occasional loaf-- check this out. I've never found a better way to do it.

I'm so excited about my new venture I plan to post some of my experiences here. So stay tuned!