Feel Like Baking Bread
It's 85 degrees in this house.
Shoot, that's perfect!
Yesterday was hot. I was bored. Perfect conditions for baking bread. I had no all-purpose flour, so I searched through my bread recipes for one that used only bread flour. Aha! Sweet challah! Since Mama Artichoke and I went to the bakery at the Dekalb Farmer's Market in Atlanta, I've been in the mood to bake bread, especially odd-shaped or braided bread. Challah is a braided bread that uses bread flour. Perfect! I followed the recipe, but the dough was way too moist and sticky. Perhaps a fault of the recipe, or maybe the looming rainstorm made the air too humid. I added more flour, then a little bit more, and finally dumped in a large scoop. I probably doubled the amount of flour called for in the recipe, but finally I had a workable dough. I let it rise three times, then formed it into three ropes, braided them and let it rise again. By this time, Gentleman Caller was home from work and dying to turn on the air conditioner. I made him hold off until the final rise. Oh, what a beautiful bread, sweet and spongy. We had some with dinner. It's best on the day it is baked, so with the leftovers, I'll make a bread pudding.