My Food Diary: Baking Bread

 

 

Food is an important part of all of our lives. For sustenance, nutrition, and pleasure. Part of the pleasure for me is the process of making the food. Its a form of caring for yourself and your loved ones that I feel touches deeply on so many of our needs as humans, to provide warmth and hospitality to our friends and family – and most important of all – to ourselves. So this the first food diary of the blog – and we’re starting with baking bread!

 

The first time I ever baked bread was probably in school when I was about 11. It was doughy, heavy, and horrible. I think I ended up ditching it into the nearest bin. I didn’t try again for a very long time. But last year it was one of my New Year’s resolutions. I had made zero time for personal learning in 2016. Just throwing myself into work non stop. And I realised I needed to step back and focus on making time for myself, without it being geared towards my career. I wanted to learn how to do something that had nothing to do with my work.

 

So I decided to learn how to make bread.

 

Finding the perfect recipe:

 

 

I searched through recipes on Pinterest and Good Food, and the not inconsiderable collection of cookbooks I have at home. I didn’t find inspiration anywhere at that point. They all seemed like hard work and a lot of time for a potentially gross pay off. The 11 year old in me still remembered the horrible heavy feeling in my stomach after eating one mouthful of that failed Home Ec loaf!

 

 

This was where the wonderful book Appetite by Nigel Slater came in.

 

 

 

 

If you’ve never read any of Nigel Slater’s cookbooks, then I cannot urge you strongly enough to try one! Disclaimer: I am not getting paid anything to fangirl about Nigel Slater in this blog post. He really is just that good. His writing is comforting, informative, and inspiring. His style of cooking is so relatable. It’s achievable, delicious and based on the whims of eating that we all have, as well as a healthy respect for food and the seasons. When I saw his recipe for “a really good, and very easy white loaf” I was sold. My adventure in bread making was on.

 

The first time I made this loaf – it worked! I ended up with a beautifully crusty, light, white loaf. It was huge and rustic and so delicious looking when it came out of the over I was glowing. It lasted a weekend in my house – with the whole family digging into it at every opportunity. After the initial feeling of success I started wondering if it was a fluke – beginners luck. So I made it again about two weeks later. It worked again, much to my absolute joy. Now this recipe is a hero in my collection of reliable standbys, and a beautiful home baked loaf of bread never fails to put a smile on my face. It always impresses people, and it’s always delicious.

 

 

The recipe:

 

 

It’s the basic bread recipe we all recognise – flour, water, yeast, and salt. And time. And you end up with a delicious, rustic loaf that is crisp and crunchy on the outside, and light and chewy on the inside. It’s good warm from the oven, toasted, as a big gorgeous sandwich. It’s even lush as French toast or bread and butter pudding when it goes a little stale. You will love it. But honestly? I think you could find any bread recipe that catches your attention, makes your mouth water, and inspires you to get baking.

 

 

 

 

Why do I love baking bread?

 

 

There’s a few reasons. Firstly, and most importantly: I love bread. This loaf is an example of a particularly simple and tasty one. But the next most important reason is that the process of baking bread is a slow and time consuming one. You have to commit at least 2 hours to the process of proving and proving again, before baking. Measuring your simple ingredients and kneading your dough at the perfect gentle pace for 10 minutes becomes a meditative process.

 

As someone who struggles with the wonderful combination of anxiety, perfectionism, procrastination and the terrible habit of wanting everything to have a rational ‘point’ I absolutely need to practice mindfulness. And making bread is the perfect vehicle for that.

 

As soon as I decide to make bread I can literally feel my brain slowing down, I change my plans because I have to be present and aware of the bread for the whole process. I allow myself to relax, and sit in for the longer haul without thinking about what’s coming next. The peace of kneading the bread for 10 minutes starts filtering into my brain along with the warmth of my arm muscles getting to work. The softness under my fingers as the bread dough starting coming together, going from sticky and clinging to bouncy and voluptuous to the touch.

 

The outcome, a perfect loaf, isn’t actually guaranteed. I have to give in and trust the process. I have to wait patiently because hurrying bread simply doesn’t work. It is an exercise in enjoying the moment, because until the loaf comes out of the oven and onto the cooling rack, there isn’t anything to do except enjoy the moment by moment steps of the process.

 

First the mixing and the kneading. Then an hour for a first prove. Clean up the kitchen, make a cup of tea and sit near the bread to make sure it stays cosy. Resist the urge to check on it every 5 minutes. Knead again. Shape it and place it on a baking tray with a generous amount of flour on top. Another hour to prove. Clean the kitchen again, preheat the oven. Sit and wait patiently. And then slide it into the oven, carefully watch it and turn when necessary to make sure it doesn’t brown more on one side than the other. And finally, bringing it out of the oven. Tapping it’s bottom to check for that hollow, drum-like knocking sound that is the sign of a fully baked loaf. Then cooling.

 

By the end of this process I’m in a totally relaxed state. My brain has stopped its incessent chattering about what to do next, why I need to be more ‘productive’. I’ve settled into quiet patience, and observing the process moment by moment. It’s wonderful.

 

 

If you love this post, I think you would really like reading my ideas for finding your joy!

 

Final thoughts:

 

Maybe you already bake bread, or maybe you’re on a carb free diet! What I’m really getting at here though, is collecting recipes that call for you to slow down and live in the moment. Bringing mindfulness to the act of cooking or baking for yourself and your loved ones is a beautiful way of caring for your own mental and physical wellbeing. Nurturing slowness and patience in your life gives you more appreciation of each moment for what it is rather than what it ‘should’ be. I can’t recommend it enough.

 

Whether you end up finding that Nigel Slater is your favourite cookery book writer (in which case, same). Or if you find another recipe that calls for patience and time. I hope that this post inspires you to pursue mindfulness in the kitchen. I would love to hear what your favourite ‘mindful’ recipe is – come chat to me in the comments!

 

Love, Isobel x

 

 

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