Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Memories...

I had the pleasure of having some "food talk" with a guest in our home yesterday. As such conversations usually do, ours drifted into the topic of bread making.

I haven't been making bread as often as I ought to. My dream is to make all the bread we eat.

Sigh. Somehow, I get discouraged when I watch four loaves disappear in two days. I can't keep up with eight stomachs!

But I used to make bread at least once a week. Lately, I have gotten out of the habit, but now I am starting to feel inspired again. I think I shall make a batch of bread soon.

The process of learning to make bread has been a long one for me. If I had several hours to type, I could entertain y'all with the tale of my flops and falls along the way, but the story is so full of horrifying details that I shalln't go into it for the world-wide -web to see. Suffice me to hint at...

... sourdough loaves...which weren't suppose to be sour...

...Hollow loaves...

...Loaves made with spoiled flour...

...Loaves that refused to rise...

...Loaves with twice the proper amount of yeast, and half the proper amount of sugar...

...Loaves the shape of bricks...

...dough exploding on oven walls...

...contributions to the dog food...

...As I said, the story could get quite entertaining if I dared to write it all out. Let's just say this picture gives a clue (at the time, I took it because the loaves were the best turn-outs yet!):


(Oh yes - I forgot to mention BURNT loaves. And you really don't need to look at that third loaf in the back...if you can call it a loaf! )
Funny thing is, now that I'm able to turn out edible - and even, so my family tells me, tasty - bread, I don't take many photos of it with the camera! Therefore, I have no pictures to share with you, to show you how I've improved. Just take my word for it - it's no longer black and flat. That's improvement, right?
Oh - and here's a random trivia fact for the day. Did you know the old definition of the term "lady"? It comes from the Saxon words "hloef" meaning "a loaf" and "digan" meaning "to serve." Therefore, a lady is one who literally serves bread to the family. The term "lord" which was often used of husbands in former days meant "supplier of bread." Therefore, the "lord" supplies the bread and the "lady" serves it.
Now, isn't that neat?

4 comments:

Sarah said...

That is so cool about the origin of the word Lady! It has also been a dream of mine to make all the bread we eat but alas, I get distracted and fall away. :) You've inspired me to make another batch though, maybe even today! I love the versatility of a good bread recipe because you can make so many different things like rolls, cinnamon buns, etc.

Sonshine said...

interesting trivia fact!

Since using a breadmachine for doing up dough, I have found my bread successes are outweighing my failures. :)

Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

I heard bread is one of those things that you need to keep doing. Practice makes perfect. I found a video that help me improve my bread too and the recipe is cheap to make. It makes only two loaves though.

I'll have to put the recipe on my blog one of these days. It does turn out so nice for me and easy.

une_fille_d'Ève said...

Wow! After all those disasters, the fact that you still persevered to finally make good bread really impresses me! When I have a difficult time making something, I usually take that to mean that I'm just not meant to make it. I think I need to learn a perseverance lesson from you.