Today I Baked Bread...

Today I baked a wonderful loaf of artisan style bread. It smells great, tastes divine, and it's everything a loaf of homemade bread should be. What's the catch? It took almost 24 hours to make!! That's right folks...almost a whole day to make a measly loaf of bread. Was it worth it? Yes. I am probably the last person on earth to make the famous and popular "No-Knead Bread" from the NY Times. It is so very different than the regular bread I would normally make. This bread is almost a batter that turns into a dough that bakes into a crusty delicious bread. You have to try it to see what I mean, just plan way ahead so it is ready when you want to eat it. I made the dough at 10:00pm before I went to bed and finished the process this afternoon so the bread was ready for dinner. It takes a bit of timing to get it all sorted out but it is well worth the effort. I also baked mine in a 3 qt covered earthenware casserole and it was plenty large enough. Let me know how the recipe works out for you. BTW-instant yeast is the same as quick rise yeast, the recipe calls for instant and people were going nuts trying to find it. It's just the fast yeast you get for bread machines. I used Red Star Quick Rise and it worked perfectly fine. And you might want to double the salt, I read on a few blogs that it needed more flavor.

I am still plugging along on the never-ending sleeves of my green cable pullover. I anticipate a done date within the next couple weeks. Then it is on to the purple cardigan or this little number. I think that is the cutest sweater I've seen in a long time. I just worry that my big-ass belly will look even bigger! Maybe I should lose some weight first...like, while I'm knitting the sweater I could also be on a stationary bike. Maybe not. I also am confused by the directions of "reverse shaping" for the fronts of the sweater. I'll need to read those directions a few times to figure that out! Why can't the pattern companies just write out the WHOLE pattern for us? That's one of my biggest pet peeves.

Well, the dog is outside waiting to come in and her feet are muddy...oh joy. Have a wonderful weekend and keep those needles clicking!