Bread!

Sometimes I worry that this blog should be titled "Starry Creative", since I often feel compelled to share anything I make with you all (not just the knits). I guess then the title wouldn't be nearly as clever, though. The husbeast and I have been waiting for the "right" time to try out a really cool-looking bread recipe, and two weekends turned out just right. We both took some much-needed personal time, and with the arrival of more fall-appropriate weather we both felt back in step with life after the hooplah of the summer. I made soup and bread.

I went against one of my own cooking rules (don't change the recipe the first time you try it), so the process was a little stressed but it was a good kind of stressed. I was excited to see if the bread would come out okay. This is the first time I've made bread all by myself (I made bread with my mom when I was younger, but never on my own). The recipe is pretty simple, though (it's America's Test Kitchen "Almost No-Knead Bread", if you're interested. You might need to register to see the recipe.) Here's the loaf rising:



Here's risen loaf going into the super-preheated dutch oven (500ºF!):



And the final product:



Just for fun, here's the bottom of the loaf:


It was amazingly delicious. When the first loaf came out of the oven, we both simultaneously exclaimed "Holy crap, it's bread!" We devoured the first loaf within three days, and I shared another with my gal friends on Monday. I developed a fantasy wherein two nights a week I mix bread dough in the evening after work, knead it in the morning, and bake the following evening. I was on such a roll (the first two loaves were amazing, despite my futzing with the recipe a bit. So in the middle of the week, I tried it out. Turns out bread won't rise in our kitchen unless the heater is on and all the windows are shut, so no mid-week bread for us yet. But I'm not giving up entirely yet. Homemade bread is too good to give up on!

Looking at all these bread pictures makes me want to spin something appropriately colored... maybe some Falklands wool?


Or perhaps Targhee?


Or some cashmere!? So many choices!