We moved into our townhouse about 5 1/2 years ago. One of the first things we noticed about it was the lack of storage space. I had to get creative with the space in our garage and came up with a unique shelf system to store all the boxes and items that we had no room for inside the townhouse. While rummaging through one of the boxes recently, I came across an old friend…my breadmaker.
Not knowing if it still worked, I decided to clean it up and give it a whirl. I found a copy of the user manual online and pulled up a copy of one of my favorite bread recipes, whole grain wheat. I went to the store, brought home all the needed ingredients and began making my first home-made loaf in almost six years.
I had forgotten how great the house smelled when baking bread. I also had forgotten how long it takes to make bread, three to four hours for a 1 1/2 lb loaf. Ahhh, but the wait was worth it. Out came a beautiful, wonderful smelling, great tasting loaf of home-made wheat bread. There is nothing in the bread aisle at the supermarket that smells or tastes like it. After letting it cool down a bit, slicing my first slice, spreading it with some cream cheese and sitting down with a cup of cinnamon hazelnut coffee, I once again realized how the simpler things in life can give one so much pleasure.
Tonight I just finished making a 1 1/2 lb loaf of apple butter bread and I can’t wait for it to cool down enough to try a slice. If there are any of you out there that enjoy making bread at home, let me know. I’d love to swap a few recipes or, as they say, break bread with you.
