Thing 9

Make totally homemade bread, like Amish people or something.

Well said, right? 

I am domesticated like nobodies business.  While most little girls were dreaming of independence and working, I was dreaming about homemaking and all that came with it.  My Mother taught me well.  I was raised with an understanding that I'm not hopeless and probably *will* be stuck doing a lot of things on my own as an adult (well played, Mom) but real delight comes in crafting things with your own two hands.  Bread was something I had never attempted before.  Out of all of the baking and cooking I've done in my life, I had never made actual bread before!  Actual bread, in my mind, is bread made with yeast and done by hand.  Bread machines don't count - as I've made dozens upon dozens of loaves in there.  And banana breads etc do not count because, well, they are super simple and they also require no yeast.

On Friday night all of my Saturday plans were canceled.  A walking date and a single-girls chocolate-tasting party were all canceled because my friends came down with illnesses.  Bummer dude.  With an entire Saturday open - it was time to bake!

First step, get that yeast going!

Beautiful. Just a little sugar, yeast, bread flour and warm water.  Then set that off to the side while I start the big stuff...

Any sort of kitchen activity peaks the curiosity of the male in the house.  It only took about two minutes to pass before Mr. Man came wandering in, wondering what the heck was going on.  "Don't worry about it, Buddy.  I'm just mixin' up some bread dough."

More water, quick oats, bread flour, the yeast mixture...

Yeah, just so we're clear, my biggest bowl was too small for this project!  I eventually (while slowly adding in the flour) had to dump it all on the table and mix it by hand.  Nothing makes you feel more old-fashioned than kneading dough by hand.  I absolutely loved it.

Time to put that puppy in a bowl, slap a damp towel on it and let it sit for an hour...

and rise...

Apparently this would also be when my magic trick took place.  Not only did I make dough rise, but it seems that I also turned my towel from gray to purple.  I have skills.

That's one hunk of dough.  Like how I added the bottle cap to give you perspective?

After dividing it into 6 even balls, I panned 3 and froze the rest of them.

And yet again I let those suckers sit for an hour. 

Once they were ready I set them in a 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes.  The results were mighty tasty!

I passed 2 loaves on to friends and family and with the remaining one, I lived on sandwiches for the rest of the weekend!  "Thing 9" was a total success!