Homemade Bread

I've been wanting to bake bread for my family for a long time. We buy our bread at a local grocery store, Dorothy Lane Market. Fresh bread can cost $4.50 a loaf from there. I'm ok with that though, the quality and taste are top notch. It is our goal, as parents, to teach our kids to love real foods. Not squishy wonder bread and super processed candies. We try our best to introduce Julia, and eventually David, to fresh and local real food.

Enter Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day. If you haven't heard of this, google it! If I can do this anyone can.

I had been longing to learn this method of baking fresh bread for months. I watched YouTube videos, read blogs and googled my little heart out. Santa must have been watching. The wonderful book showed up under my parents Christmas tree (Thanks Mom!) The week after Christmas, I began baking.

Without further ado, these pictures are worth a thousand words.

Step One: Mix dough, let it rise then put it in fridge for easier handling. This is what it looks like after being in the fridge overnight. It is all yeasty and bubbly.

Step Two: Dig into the bowl with floured hands and shape the dough. This takes 1 minute tops. Drop it into an oiled pan, let rise for an hour, then cut vents on top.

Step Three: Bake the bread for 35 minutes, then cool on rack. We have yet to let the bread cool before tearing into it.

This fresh bread costs around .60 a loaf using all organic ingredients. YUM!