Definitely a bread-baking day . . .

Cold today! Snow in the mountains and enough wind to send a chilling breeze down into the valley. Perfect day for bread baking. I have to feel a little bit sorry for anyone who hasn't tried making bread. It does have a mystery about it as to how it all works out. I mean, you take flour, water, salt, and yeast and in a few hours you have fragrant loaves cooling on the counter or a tray of soft rolls to go with dinner.

My mother liked making sweet yeast pastries, as do it, but a loaf of homemade bread seems like such a wonderful thing to produce. I remember baking bread one Halloween evening and a little Trick or Treater thanked my husband for the candy and then exclaimed, "Boy, Mister, are YOU lucky!" Taken aback, my husband asked, "Why would you say that?" The little boy looked surprised and replied, "Just smell your house!" Homemade bread baking does that to people.

Although I had a basic understanding of bread making when I got married, I really got my expertise from my husband. In his single days, he got interested in making bread mostly from the scientific point of view. He would follow recipes exactly and enjoyed buying bowls and equipment recommended by whatever receipe/book he was reading at the time. He still like making bread but likes gardening better. Sometimes, I will put bread to rise and give him the enjoyment of forming the loaves when he comes home from work.

My favorite, basic recipe for bread is as follows:

6 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons dried yeast
Water as needed

Put the yeast into a large (non-metal) bowl with 1/4 cup water and stir to dissolve. Add the flour and salt. Add water until you have a workable dough and turn out onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth. Round it into a ball and place in a large, greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, place in a warm place, and let rise until doubled. It can take anywhere from an hour to two hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen. The longer the rise, however, the more the taste developes.

When you dough has reached the double mark, form into rolls or loaves and place in greased loaf pans or baking sheets. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise again. Set your oven to 400 degrees. When the bread/rolls are ready, remove the plastic and bake. Rolls take about 15-20 minutes and loaves an hour-plus.

NOTE: Spray vegetable oil spray on the surface of the plastic wrap to avoid sticking and ruining the shape of your rolls/loaves.

With that said, I think I will go make bread!