Bread Begins

Sometime in early January, 2009, a good friend of mine introduced me to the pure awesomeness of baking your own bread. Thomas (Mike) has been getting his PhD in Sweden. He finally came to visit Adam and I in San Diego, and we had a great time. We went to the Wild Animal Park and rode the carousel, examined luchador masks in Old Town, partied (too) hard on New Year's Eve, and most life-changing of all, he showed me how to make bread. One of the best Xmas presents I've ever gotten, even if it was a little late.

He said he liked to make bread over the weekend sometimes, and showed me how to make a simple loaf of white bread. We ate it in less than an hour.

I guess I always thought that bread was this super complicated food product that required either French artisans in white smocks or gleaming metal machinery in a factory. It requires neither of these things. People have been making bread for much longer than there have been bread factories, and I've come to realize nothing about it is rocket science (though Thomas is in fact a rocket scientist, so I was uncertain at first).

In essence, bread is just a flour based yeast culture that you grow for a while, then harvest by baking. Its a pretty sweet biological system, when you think about it. The structure all comes from gluten, a protein in the wheat that can align to form networks and trap the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast as it ferments the starches in the flour for food. Kneading (and time) help align the gluten molecules, strengthening them so the bread can rise while the yeast is active. There are few things more satisfying than watching a ball of dough grow on your counter.

This impromptu lesson has changed the way I eat, and I now refuse to buy bread at the store. Adam and I have also starting eating a ton of fresh fruits and vegetables from our CSA box, and while it is time consuming to make almost all of your food from scratch, it is gratifying and delicious. I've made so much bread in the past year, almost every single weekend since Thomas taught me how, that I've deciding to start documenting it. Maybe it will inspire someone else, because home-baked bread is WAY better than bread from the store and is always appreciated. Maybe you'll fall in love with the process and start baking in all of your spare time, to the detriment of your other hobbies. I use it as a delicious form of stress relief.

Thank you Thomas, that was a pretty kickass present!