Baking Day
A few years ago I picked up a copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. We haven’t bought a loaf of bread since. The smell of baking bread and warm tender slices fresh from the oven—well, nothing beats it. Most of the time I just make some sort of organic white, wheat, or combination thereof, but I occasionally get fancy. Last weekend I woke with a hankering for a buttery slab of cinnamon raisin bread, so I caved and added an extra 5 minutes to my bread routine. Rolling out my usual dough into a thick rectangle, I smothered it with butter, honey from a local farm, plump raisins, nutmeg, and a generous dusting of cinnamon. The whole darn thing got rolled up and dropped in the pan and baked as normal. Yum. Now I’m on a bread inclusion tear. Earlier this week I pulled out the second to last garden pesto from the freezer (yes, I’m counting) and made pesto and sun-dried tomato bread. And I’m remembering other favorites: chocolate cherry, olive parm, honey pecan. I’m also dreaming up new combinations like honey walnut gorganzola, speck and asparagus, and strawberry marmalade with brie. Ah, yes. I definitely enjoy the kitchen arts, too.
