Bread

I made bread today.

Bread is another thing (like pie crust) that I tried once, failed at, and gave up for about 20 years.  Maybe the first time I made bread, I had bad yeast.  Or, maybe I made the water too hot.  Or maybe I was scared because the process seemed so complex, and I kneaded it too hard with my shaking hands.

Whatever the reason, the first time I made bread, it turned out like bricks that smelled like bread, but tasted like bricks.

But, once I retired, I thought I should make bread, as it is a homey thing to do, and I am, after all, at home.  So, I got out my trusty Fiddlehead Cookbook and tried once again.  Our kitchen counters are too high for me to knead comfortably, so I used a Kitchen Aid mixer with a dough hook.  

Lo, and behold, it worked.  Now, I make bread all the time.  It is a nice, contemplative thing to do.  When I make bread, I always think of this lovely prayer:

“Be gentle when you touch bread.
Let it not lie, uncared for, unwanted.
So often bread is taken for granted.
There is such beauty in bread—
Beauty of surf and soil,
Beauty of patient toil.
Wind and rain have caressed it,
Christ often blessed it.
Be gentle when you touch bread.”

David Adam