Bread Story

For thousand of years the Bread Story has been told countless times. Everyday a new story is added to the chapter. You could even say that the story is never duplicated.

Each Bread Story is unique due to the many factors that make bread what it is. I have been trying to learn the intricacies of bread making for several years now. Bread has often been cited as the “Staff of Life” yet in our modern society we tend to buy boring bread.

I first got serious about baking my own bread after reading an article by Richard Blunt. Whole grain bread baked at home is an excellent article for anyone that has an interest in bread. Richard is a great teacher and I appreciate the rigidity he suggests in his recipe.

It is very easy to follow the recipe for overnight wheat artisan bread and I get rave reviews from the family whenever I make it. There only complaint is that I do not make it enough. It is truly a fantastic bread both in appearance and process.

The bread that has been become my default standard bread is affectionately known as Grandmother bread. Grandmother bread’s history is rich and leads to many chapters in the bread story. The picture above is from a single loaf of Grandmother Bread.

The simplicity and ease of making Grandmother Bread leads it to becoming my de facto standard that I make whenever we need bread. This by far was not one of my better loaves of bread. I hesitated to post a picture of this effort, but then I remembered that each loaf has it’s own bread story.

While I was making this loaf I was elated with how well the water and yeast had merged. I was certain this was going to be a great loaf of bread. Then I was puzzled when it looked like I should stop adding flour after using 1/2 the normal amount. I then realized that what I thought was a 1 cup measuring tool was really a 1/2 cup(I may have been distracted by football). Well more water and flour were added and then the rise.

The disappointment in this loaf of bread continued to rise in me along with the bread. I was not happy with the way the ingredients mixed together. In the end the bread tasted wonderful and served it purpose, but I saw imperfections in the final appearance and areas that I could improve.

There are always areas that we can improve ourselves just like bread. I believe that each loaf of bread is unique just like snowflakes and humans. To the best of my knowledge there has only been one perfect man. Much like the loaf of bread I made today I know he overlooks my imperfections and sins and enjoys the person that I am. Now if I could only serve his purpose.