Got Bread?

Bread is my passion. Yeasty rolls with melting butter and honey; lusty crusty whole wheat, garlic bread, garlic cheese bread, the soft white insides of scones when you bite through the flaky quick-fried crust - I could live off of bread alone, no matter what the Book says.

I found a new bread recipe today, very simple, very eloquent, very large - makes five loaves at once. Yummers. It started out to be such a bad day I decided that I really needed to beat something up, and kneading bread dough gives me that rough-and-tumble, stretching and pounding, powdery and messy satisfaction of abusing something that will actually be better for it. Three were regular size loaves, one I braided, and one I rolled up into little balls to freeze for later. There is nothing like reaching into the freezer, grabbing a Ziploc out, watching some little balls of nothing much thaw and rise, and popping them into the oven while one makes breakfast (or lunch, or supper). Then wrapping them in a towel, putting the fresh yeast rolls onto the table in a charming basket right next to a bowl of real butter and a honey bear.

The loaves rose quickly, baked prettily, and came out light and fluffy and golden. I let them cool, sliced them, then slid them into Ziplocs and into the freezer.

The more I go into town the less I like going. It seems like such a waste to go into the grocery store and buy - loaves of bread. Flat and tasteless, insides that turn to glue when wrapped around cheese and mayo or peanut butter and jelly, crusts that have a dampish and decidedly tough bite to them. I like freezing and storing bread so I don't have to go get some every three days or so. But now I'm starting to make and freeze my own, in 'bulk''; and between the better flavor and the fewer additives, I really feel like I'm accomplishing something.

With bread, the day got better.