My reasoning for baking bread is more simple. I remember home made bread from when I was a kid, and I love it. I miss eating real bread, and having a slice while it was still warm is something I think I dream about. I have found some nice restaurants that serve great bread, and I really don't care that much about the rest of the food there, I would go just for the bread. I know, I have issues.
Eventually our bread discussions got so far along that all that remained was for us to just go ahead and bake some bread ourselves. Well, at least give it a good try, since neither of us had ever tried it before. L went ahead and gave it the first try. You can read about her exploits here. The bread she made was good. But it was not the kind I was thinking of. It was more of a specialty bread type of recipe. We ate that in a day or two, and then I thought I would give it a try. Where else should I turn to get the wonderful bread I had as a child than to call my mother. "Mom could you sent me your bread recipe?" "Sure", she says. "I'll email it to you." So later I check my email and there it is. I'm all excited about making bread like mom used to make. I could almost taste it before I even tried to make it. Suddenly I look at the recipe, and I see there is a URL at the top of a bread website. What? My own mother googled bread and sent me a recipe from the web. Technology is not always a good thing.
A day or two went by, and I did some searching for myself and, well, I am easily distracted. Before you know it I am in the kitchen making cinnamon bread. I know, I have a sweet tooth. I saw sugar laden bread, and who doesn't like that. Here is the final results. Still not too bad for my first attempt at bread. (O.K. So one has a little tail. You're not the bread police! Stop harassing me!)
[caption id="attachment_406" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Cinnamon Bread by Dad to Two"]
[/caption]The inside doesn't look too bad either. Mmmm. Delicious! Just don't ask me why only one of the three loaves actually has raisins in it.
[caption id="attachment_407" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Cinnamon Bread inside"]
[/caption]I think I am about ready to try again with some plain old fashioned White bread. I'll just have my wife print out a recipe for me so I don't get too distracted along the way. Who know's what I'd end up with. It is Christmas time and I do like fruit cake...
14 comments:
Congrats on the bread. It looks great.
I will admit that making bread the 'old fashioned way' really intimidates me. I have a bread machine and will go through spurts of breadmaking. Sometimes I make bread every day for a week and then none for a month or more. The bread machine makes only 1 loaf and it disappears before I get up the next morning. The bread fairy (I know it's my son whose bedroom is off the dining room) swoops in before I get up to make my partner's lunch and eats any leftover from the night before.
I have a favorite recipe from a bread machine cookbook. It's Peasant Bread. It's like a crusty french bread. Very good and always a favorite.
I do have a KitchenAid Mixer, so I really SHOULD attempt making some bread the 'old fashioned way'. I know I should, but I procrastinate.
Oh well, I got an excellent recipe for Cinnamon Rolls from http://momskitchencooking.blogspot.com/ that I'm going to try this week and I bought extra yeast. So maybe I'll get around to making some bread too.
http://lolasdiner.blogspot.com/
The one with a tail looks like a sperm. Sheesh, men can find a way to make anything about s e x. ;)
Your bread looks gorgeous! I think it is beautiful, even with a tail. I love to make bread, but it requires a large span of time at home. I don't get that as often as I would like. I often make french bread because my kids like it. Another great thing you can do with your son is to make pretzels. You can make the pretzels any shape you want which is fun for kids.
Thank you also Lola for the idea of Peasant bread, and now you made me think about cinnamon rolls. Ohh I miss going to Cinnabon and eating that gooey sticky mess that tastes so delicious.
Oh that pretzel thing is a great idea. He would love that. he didn't get to actually help much this time since I had no idea what I was doing and I made enough of a mess all by myself. He did watch though and now knows I am as messy as he is. I remember making pretzels when I was younger. It might have been an activity in school or something. It was a lot of fun. Thanks for the idea, and I'll let you know how it goes.
The bread looks delicious! I've never made cinnamon bread before, but you've inspired me :)
Mmm, looks great for a first attempt, well done!! The kids and I have been talking about baking bread too but we ended up making blueberry cheesecake and waffles instead. Go figure LOL.
That bread looks yummy!
I agree that does look very yummy. They look great to me for your first attempt. I make my own pizza dough from scratch which is very easy. I would love to make my own homemade pretzels. That's something I need to try soon. I do make my own banana nut bread which is very yummy. They never last long around here.
You are all making me very hungry! LOL Cheesecake? Now that sounds too difficult for me. Pizza dough seems like I may be able to try that. Isn't it similar to making bread, but just spread it out and roll the edges? Hmmm. I should probably look at a recipe before I go making any optimistic comments about what I think I can do...
i think that was a great attempt. good for you for trying.
i love fresh bread, but can never be bothered to do it myself when i can nip to the shop in 2 mins lol - i know me bad! or lazy!
Looks good! We make bread pretty often in our house. There's nothing like the smell of hot, homemade bread!
mmmmm. does look good... and very entertaining to read as well!!! I should take a look at these recipe's you are mentioning... looks like another addition to the mother/daughter baking time. zLOL I love how your mother sent you a googled recipe... they had that back then? lol jk! :)
The bread looks delicious! My grandmother used to make amazing cinnamon bread, but I've been too intimidated to try making it! It seems very complicated.
Tina - Believe me, most of the time I feel the same way. Stores make it so easy it is almost not worth the effort to make it your self. On the other hand, it is just a fun activity from time to time to do something fun and get a little messy.
Signe - That is one of the great benefits of baking it yourself. That wonderful smell fills the house. You don't get that with store bought bread, but you do get all the preservatives. =-)
Elaine - My mother read the blog post, and felt bad. So she tried to find her recipe book, but couldn't locate it. Then she went online and searched recipes for bread until she found one that was closest to how she remembers her recipe to be. I will have to give that one a try. It makes four loaves at a time, so that should keep me with fresh bread for a couple of weeks.
Rhonda - I have only the cooking skills which I picked up in college, meaning I can cook mac and cheese, spaghetti, and cup a soup. The recipe seemed challenging, and at times I was not sure I was doing it right, but still it turned out pretty good. I would say, just dig in and give it a try. The worst that can happen is it doesn't work, but typically from the end results some one will be able to tell you exactly what you did wrong. And quite often you won;t even have to ask them. LOL. With that new information you will be ready to try again.
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