The Dough Also Rises

Sigh.

I really, really want to post pictures of my vacation, including the FOOD pictures (of which there are many), but stupid Blogger is turning them all sideways.  It's evidently a problem for a lot of people, but there's no solution that I've found yet.  Sigh again.

Til I figure it out, I will tell you about my attempts at making bread.

The first time I made bread from scratch was several months ago.  I was feeling especially sassy that day, if I remember correctly.  I'd always been afraid of making anything involving yeast before - quick breads were always more my style.  You know, cornbread, banana bread, stuff like that.  But bread bread? Eh, I wasn't so sure.

Then came my sassy day when I decided to buy some yeast and get it over with.  And it went pretty well, all told.  I made two big loaves and Rob said it looked like a butt.  Which it did.  But it was a tasty butt.  There are pictures of this endeavor on my Facebook page under Cooking Projects.

I made more bread on the day I made the bouef bourguignon.  Yes, I was feeling rather ambitious that day.  So I got started again.

The first kneading is my least favorite part.  When it's all coming together into a dough and it's still all sticky...yuck.

But eventually it was more dough-like and smooth so I coated it in olive oil and set it in the bowl near the Crock Pot to rise...and rise...and rise...

 

It was like the Dough That Ate My Counter.  I took a picture and beat it into submission before it ate me or something.

The second rising was even bigger.  I divided it into three loaves, instead of two, and scored them.  Once they rose one more time, into the oven they went, along with hot water into a preheated pan underneath the cookie sheet to make it crustier.

And out they came! I was pretty happy with the outcome, and lord knows Rob ate it like there was no tomorrow.  But I noticed that there was a difference in taste from last time.  It tastes like a pretzel.  Marcie, if you're reading this...do you know why it tastes like a pretzel? (I'm only asking Marcie because I know Marcie bakes a lot...if anyone else knows, feel free to speak up!) I mean, hey, pretzels are good.  But not when you're looking for italian bread.  Well, either way, there's still a loaf in the freezer and since the first one froze so well I'm sure the other one will be just as good the second time around!