I love homemade bread. And I consider myself an adequate baker--I've made rolls and cinnamon rolls and lots of white bread--I'm not scared of yeast. However, I had never made wheat bread before and since we were collecting quite the storage of grain in our basement, I decided that it would be a good idea to figure out what to do with the stuff.
First, I signed up to bring bread to a church meeting. I figured that would give me plenty of motivation. Then, I waited until 2.5 hours before the church meeting started to find a recipe. I like to work under pressure. Okay, really I'm just a procrastinator--I had three weeks to figure this thing out.
So, the heat is on. I find a recipe. I head to the basement to get a bowl of wheat. This is where I face my greatest challenge. First of all, I just finished painting a bunch of stuff in the basement, so it still smells of paint fumes--which makes me sick to my stomach. I can't stand going in there! I head to the farthest, darkest corner with my shirt over my nose and come face to face with my first bucket. I survey the point of entry--looks pretty easy, it has a pull tab. As I pull the tab, nothing happens. I pull harder and harder...and harder. I am a freakishly strong person, so naturally the tab breaks off....before I can open the bucket.
Great! Now I have to go upstairs and find a pair of scissors. At least I can get some fresh air! The scissors were a joke--they're too old and too dull to do anything, so I was left with my own muscle strength to figure this one out (sure, I could have gone back upstairs, but I am a lazy person...)
The wheat bucket and I battled for 30 minutes. 30 precious minutes!!! I was sweating and out of breath, but I finally had my wheat.
Okay, now I only have two hours. So, I pull the wheat grinder that I got for Christmas out of the pantry and take it out of the box for the first time. Yes, the first time. I read the directions and got started. It only took 30 minutes. I was getting a little panicky by this point. I had committed to bring bread and I didn't want to be a flake.
The grinder was fabulous by the way. I loved it!
Did I mention Bridger was helping me? He could hear my grunts of frustration all the way from the basement (during the war...)
So, you mix the first ingredients, all was going well. Kennedy woke up from her nap....time was slipping through my fingers....I bribed them with chocolate....they were happy....
I got the bread in the oven with minutes to spare and as soon as it came out, I left for church and still had 5 minutes to spare. AND the bread was warm. Mmmm hmmm.
Oh, and we enjoyed/inhaled a couple of slices before I left. I had to taste test it, I didn't want to poison anyone! The bread turned out pretty good. I still have issues with the bucket. And then my friend Becky gave me her yummiest bread recipe ever and we have all been well ever since :)
