It's almost been a year

You know the saying, "Time flies when you're having fun", or maybe "Time flies quicker when you're older", I'd like to state that they are true. It's either I've had a lot of fun this past year, or I am now old enough to come to terms with my age. Sigh. It's hard to imagine that, one year ago, I was still in Saratoga Springs, NY, organizing my life in order to make my move to Buffalo, WV.

Recently, I spent time with my family in Indiana, and I overheard my 5 year old niece exclaim "I can't wait til I'm older". Naturally, my first instinct for a reply was "Oh, no you don't", but it had me remembering all of my previous wonders and wants of being older. When you are young, unable to do half of the things you see others doing, all you wish for is to turn the clock to fast forward. As an adult, you wish for the time to stop, to give you the big breath that you've been needing since forever. We're humans. We always want what we can't have.

Patience is a virtue and I believe it to be true, as well. Life never seems to play out the way you thought it should (never exactly), so why not just enjoy the journey you are in? It's like making bread. You first have to create the dough, with all the ingredients like flour, water, yeast, sugar, salt, and other somethings, and mix it until it is all formed together. Then you have to wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. It can be tough. Depending on the dough, it can range from 30 minute proof time to almost overnight. But why be impatient now? Why stress over a fact that needs time to work itself out? Yes, you can have factors that speeds up the process, like a warm environment for the yeasts to grow faster, but you can never skip the proofing. Anyone who's ever made bread know you have to do this step or you will end up with an inedible brick. Life can be just so. If you don't have the patience to allow yourself, or craft, or something to grow on its own, you won't get the life you deserve. And who said you can't have fun while waiting? You now have 30 min-overnight time to do other things you love. Multi-tasking is NOT against the law! And who knows, a whole year may go by without you even realizing it.

I believe my time in Saratoga Springs, and even before, was the proofing time I needed. I'm still not done growing, but when is anyone really done? All you can do is have fun and be patient. I engaged myself in this new job and I knew it was going to be hard, but I also learned to take it one step at a time. Time does fly now and I want to remember all the good times and learn from the bad ones.

And since we talked about bread, I can't go without sharing a recipe with you all. I've always trusted Alton Brown and his recipes. Below is the recipe and here's the link to find it on the Food Network's page. Very Basic Bread Recipe. It's delicious, and now you can take credit for the bread at your next party! I do suggest making this ahead of time as there are lots of down time. (Don't you even THINK about going to the frozen section of Wal-Mart and grabbing ready-made dinner rolls.)

Very Basic Bread Recipe

Ingredients

1 pound Bread Flour (extra for shaping)
1 teaspoon (tsp) instant rapid rise yeast
2 teaspoon honey
10 oz water
2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 quarts hot water
Oil for greasing the bowl
2 Tablespoon (Tbsp) cornmeal
1/3 cup water
1 Tablespoon cornstarch

Method of Preparation (MOP)

-Make your pre-ferment by combining 5 oz of flour, 1/4 tsp of yeast, all of the honey, and water into a straight-sided container, cover loosely and refrigerate for 8-12 hours. Now go play!!

-After you're done playing, napping, or doing whatever, place the remaining 11 oz of flour, remaining yeast, salt and add your pre-ferment into a stand mixer bowl. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the mixture on low for 2-3 minutes until just combined. Cover the dough in the bowl with a kitchen towel and let rest for 20 minutes. Knead the dough, again, but this time on medium speed and for 5-10 minutes or until the dough is elastic. (He uses the technique of gently stretching the dough into a thin sheet that light passes through)

-While the dough is kneading, pour the hot water into a shallow pan and set on the bottom rack of your oven.

-Grease the inside of a large straight-sided container (like a loaf pan), and place your formed dough into it. Let rise for 1-2 hours. (oohh nap time again!)

-When the dough is doubled in size, turn it onto a clean counter top. Press the dough down with your knuckles until flat. Fold the dough in a tri-fold (one side towards the middle, the other on top), and repeat the process once more. Cover the dough with the kitchen towel and let rest 10 minutes.

-Flatten your dough once more. Now you are shaping it to your end product. Fold one side of the dough into itself, like a jelly roll. Flip the bread and pinch where the seam is. BE GENTLE WITH THY BREAD! Dust a sheet pan or pizza stone with the cornmeal and place your bread, seam side down, onto it. Cover with the kitchen towel and let proof another hour.

-When your bread is almost done proofing, turn your oven on to 400F. Place an unglazed terra cotta dish, or another sheet pan will do. Fill your hot water shallow pan if it's dry.

-Combine the 1/3 cup of water, and the cornstarch in a small bowl. Uncover the dough and brush the surface with the mixture. Make cool slash marks on your bread with a shard pairing knife (an X or 3 slashes like the Wolverine!). The marks should be 1/3-1/2 inch deep. Slide your bread onto your dish or pan in the oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes. When the bread is 205-210F internally, or you knock on the outside crust and it gives a beautifully hollow sound, remove from the oven. Place on a cooling rack and wait til cool to slice. Now crackle that bread and enjoy! Don't forget the butter!

How do you tell a good bread is without tasting it? Not the smell, not the look, but the SOOOUUND of the CRUST.
(crackle delicious crackle beautiful crackle yum)

Recipe Courtesy of Alton Brown, Food Network