A Consolation - Freshly Baked Bread

Hello to all of you in Blogland! I trust that you are doing well. I am feeling better after the devastating loss that Germany suffered in the semifinals against Spain yesterday. They will still play for third place but it is very dissappointing not to have won the title. I won't stop cheering them on even though I was shocked, dismayed and disgusted all at once yesterday. However, as I don't want to dwell on negativity (and as I am sure you won't want to waste your time reading a sob story) I will turn to a more pleasant topic.

Bread.

Homemade Bread.

Most of you will remember the song "My Favourite Things" from The Sound Of Music. This is the song you sing when the dog bites, when the bee stings and when you are feeling bad (like say for instance when your team bombs and completely throws away the semifinals..). It is you find a whole list of Maria's (the woman singing the song for those of you who aren't familiar) favourite things. Well, the song got me thinking and it turns out I have a very long list of favourite things:

Pierogies

Matryoshka

Soccer

Shoes

Gymnopedie by Satie

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String  (I had one from Russia delivered yesterday!)

Homemade Bread

Mascara

Tim Burton

..........

Okay I will only share a few as it is actually a really long list.

Each one of these favourite things hold memories for me and one that holds really special memories is homemade bread. I know that may sound ridiculous (I mean, shoes are pretty awesome too..) but close your eyes and imagine the smell of baking bread. Warm delicious bread.

Doesn't that bring back memories?

When I lived at home my mum baked bread every week. 6 loaves. We helped her out obviously, with the punching and the kneading and the punching and the kneading...and it was so much fun!

We would dump all of the ingredients into the Bosch kitchen machine and check for the yeast to bubble. Then the machine would whir and the dough would appear as the flour was mixed in, one cup at a time.

Next it had to sit covered for what would seem like an eternity to me. Finally it was time to bake.

I would always steal a peak through the glass door to check on how the bread was doing. Would it rise this time? It always did.

Now that I have my own home I like to make bread whenever I have a chance. Store bought just doesn't taste the same. Homemade is richer, heartier, better.

Maybe I am just biased. I would suggest however, that if you have never made bread from scratch you should do it. It is definitely satisfying to enjoy the fruits of your labour.

Happy baking everyone!

Also don't forget that tomorrow will be my interview with Cynthia from The Sewing Dork and a GIVEAWAY!

PS. The loaf shown above is my sandwich bread recipe and has an egg glaze.

AND

I was featured on Totally Tutorials!

They featured my Rosette Pillow Tutorial and I am so excited!