Are you afraid of the dough?

Admit it. After centuries and centuries of people with very little technology or education making bread to feed their families, the thought of doing this for yourself is potentially terrifying. We have become, as humans, what Matt refers to as "biscuit-eaters" for dogs. (I think this used to be a slander for a dog that couldn't catch his own food, but Matt uses it as a term of endearment for our Molly.)

Thanks to one Nacogdoches mama (the awesome Michelle C!) whose recipes ran in our local paper, I decided: "I can do this!" after a quick risk-reward analysis. The thing is, if I was a total failure, I was only out a $1 or 2 in materials and I'd know better for the rest of my life. But I was a success and now my family gets homemade, chemical-free, delicious, inexpensive bread for the nourishment of their bodies. My house smells AMAZING and I pretty much feel like I can do anything.

Eventually I plan to make a little video for y'all of me doing the various steps (it's certainly not magic, but the food processor makes it seem as such), but Matt couldn't record me today.
Instead I present...the 2nd rise of the dough. (Sorry, I decided last minute to take photos.)


And speaking of seconds, so great is my dough-thusiasm that I now make my own pizza dough, too (also courtesy of Michelle--will post that recipe soon). I adapted both recipes a bit to suit my own whims, so I'm sure I'm ruining science, but I just want to give you courage that you, regular person, can certainly make bread that is delicious and easy yourself even if you change it up or mess it up.

Now, I have yet to tackle roll and cut-out sugar cookie dough. This makes me shake in my boots. But stay tuned; I may be up for it sooner than you think!
Also, I know this blog is off to a slow start, but be patient with me. I'm a work in progress.

P.S. Here is my recipe for Honey Whole Wheat bread adapted from Michelle's (hers makes 4 loaves in a giant mixer, mine makes 2 and I do it in the food processor and I added a 2nd rise) and Cuisinart's food processor cook book. Don't be afraid by the huge chunk of time it takes; it's hardly hands-on at all for most of that time. If you're using a mixer, you will want to mix for about 10 minutes after you've added all the ingredients, but otherwise it's the same. Also, don't make this in your food processor unless you have a GINORMOUS food processor (as I do).

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Servings: 2 loaves
Total time: 4h:30m
Source: Michelle Cox/ Cuisinart/ Invention

Ingredients
• 2¼ c warm water
• 2 Tbsp yeast
• ½ c safflower oil
• ½ c honey
• 6 c whole wheat flour
• 1½ tsp blackstrap molasses
• 1¾ tsp salt

Directions

Put the water and yeast in food processor and briefly pulse to combine.

Add oil and honey and pulse again.

Add flour all at once, then use dough speed for 1-2 minutes (if using a mixer, add gradually and mix until all flour is combined with wet ingredients)

Add salt & molasses and continue on dough speed for 1-2 more minutes until dough cleans sides of bowl and forms a ball (about 10 min in mixer). Dough should be smooth and elastic; if it's sticky, add a little flour to your hands and knead it in until it's easier to handle.

Place dough in a lightly floured plastic bag (I recommend plain "food storage bags" from the grocery store) and twist closed. Allow to rest in a warm place until dough doubles in size, approximately 1-1½ hours.

Lightly coat 2 loaf pans with non-stick cooking oil. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and punch down dough before separating into 2 equal pieces.

Form dough pieces into loaves in pans and cover (directly on dough) with plastic. Let rise until dough is just above tops of pans, about 1-1½ hours.

Preheat oven to 325°. Remove plastic from dough and bake 40-55 minutes until bread has a golden color and internal temperature is 185°.

Remove from pans immediately and let cool on wire rack.

Where I Belong

I've missed blogging terribly, but I believe the market has changed a bit since I was one of the novel, relatively few players in the game a hundred or so years ago. Those were the days when Blogger could barely afford to keep the lights on in their office and I proudly wore my "Blogger Pro" hoodie around. I didn't feel obliged to include pictures because people were so enamored with the internets, even tons of text was pretty nifty and oh! what if someone SAW MY FACE?! The horror. So how to make my entree back into a changed world? Write what you know (and include pictures, but not this post--sorry) and you can't go wrong--right? Sure.

I briefly considered starting a homesteading blog, but then realized I am not quite homespun enough, don't have enough time to become homespun enough, and also: there are already plenty of people doing this way better than me. The niche blog market I feel I am the strongest competitor in is really Bizardry; so here I remain. But now that I am back into cooking and making many things from scratch once again, I hope to share that, too. I will even document my adventures as a budding cheesemaker and soon-to-be-accomplished breadmaker (I humbly say). I might sew a thing or two, but I draw the line at prairie dresses and especially french braids (shudder). Plus, there will be plenty of Andrew because there's simply not enough Andrew right now or ever. In short, this will be the life of an American Bizard: a mom, a wife, an activist who goes to bed at 9 p.m. and works another full-time job, too. Here I am. I'm imperfect; I'm funny; I like you. So thanks for joining me.