Giving bread a go

A few weeks ago i went to a 2 part cooking class given by King Arthur Flour (KAF). The first half taught us how to make bread, the second half taught us how to make pie dough/crust. For a lot of people (myself included) this stuff is really scary. The part about letting it rise and how long is good enough for kneading. Hint 1:there is a King Arthur emergency hotline for baking 911's. She said the hotline would be starting to have weekend and late night hours soon because of the upcoming holidays. Don't you just love America!!

I kept postponing my first experience. I kind of blamed the lack of a food processor to help as an excuse...but darn that KAF. She pretty much said you don't need a food processor or mixer. All of it can be done by hand. REALLY?! Well i guess our ancestors did it, i guess i can too.

My wonderful friend Chelsea took the plunge first and then shared her recipe for what i was told is a French bread. I'm sure hers turned out like one....mine was kind of just bread like. HEY i'll take any form of bread shape, it was my first go! Since then i've become brave and done it again! Each time it gets better and i become more brave. This week i've decided to tackle something in the filled bread section. We'll see how that one goes.

Anyhoo, here are shots from my bread experience.

This is rising yeast. Smells like a brewery...wonder why!


My dough was supposed to be in the shape of a ball...and not soupy. Well it stuck together, but not as a ball. This is the dough in it's oil bath during the rising process.



Couple hours later it's risen and ready for baking!!


TADA! Fancy huh!