Last Friday was one of those misforecasted days that seem to occur with disconcerting regularity. My non-rainy day plans were shot and I didn’t really have a backup plan. Fuck, even the library was closed.
What then to do with a 3 1/2-year-old with our 3-month-old in tow?
Nate just began pre-school last week and one of their first daily activities is to bake something like muffins or a quick bread. Whatever bread they baked on Thursday I knew he didn’t like, so I felt inspired to make him some good bread and started flipping through my Bread Baker’s Apprentice. I thought about ciabatta, but it takes two days and we didn’t have enough bread flour. A few pages later I stumbled across the solution.
It’s been a while since I’ve baked anything new from Reinhardt’s Bread Bakers Apprentice, despite my stated mission from nearly two years ago to attempt every recipe in it (I may still get there one day).
Since I’m not a fan of nuts in bread I left the walnuts out of the recipe, other than that I followed it exactly. This is a good one for kids because it only takes one day. Nate helped me mix all the ingredients and while he was napping I was able to shape the loaves, proof them and then bake them so that when he woke up the house smelled quite lovely. The next time I make this (which will probably be somewhat soon) I plan on doing the cinnamon swirl.
Who knows, with it looking like a rainy week there might be another bread baking day in the near future.
Red Devil in the Kitchen 