Welcome to the Commenting Pixie Party!
I love this post, Phantom. Love it.
You have to teach me how to make challah. Pretty please?
Good enough, my ass, I am sure your bread is delicious.
Lovely.
Another beautiful one, Phantom. If you're at all interested in getting published beyond this her blog, I have some ideas of food magazines/sites that I bet would be really interested in something like this...
On top of which, you've now made me want to bake when I should be working! (It's a story about comfort food, though, so there's some consolation...)
I would love to hear your recommendations for a bread machine. Mr. Mac is asking for something to gift me with for my birthday - I *love* fresh bread (I bake it often), and I wonder if a bread machine isn't the answer.
Thanky ma'am!
That's just beautiful on so many levels.
Beautiful post. I love your approach. Now I want to try baking corn syrup-free bread.
Well said, as always, dear PS. I love the sentiment of better to be good enough and get stuff done, than be paralyzed by the fear of not being good enough and sitting still. What an important life lesson. I remember reading a very throrough description of how you make challah, do you remember where it resides in the archives, just waiting for me to give it a go?
Here's to 8 hours in a row tonight.....
What a glorious, home-made post!
The part I like most about your bread-making is that it _is_ part of a routine, a weekly ritual. I'm betting, that when they're older, both LG and BB are going to have strong, positive memories of their mother baking bread for them, despite the chaos and demands in her life.
All the "world-class" bread can't compete with that.
The fact that you make bread of any kind, any time, makes you a professional in my eyes. That you do it weekly? Stunning.
But I also admit it sounds like something I would like to do. Now if only my kitchen were big enough for another appliance . .
This is a lovely post PS. I'm sure your bread is wonderful, as are the memories your children will always carry with them of this weekly ritual.
Hi Suzanne, and welcome to the commenting pixie party! The original challah post is here.
Amy, do you have a food processor or stand mixer? Either of those would work just as well or better. In fact, the cookbook that's currently making me shake my head in irritation gives all of its instructions for stand mixers.
Devilmacdawg, I have a nine-year-old Breadman Plus machine. I don't know what the market is like right now, but I will say that if you're planning to take the dough out and bake it in the oven yourself, it almost doesn't matter what you get. But if anyone does use their bread machine for baking and has a recommendation, pass it along!
MC, after I stop blushing and shaking my head, I'll email you...
Fabulous post, PS. Just fabulous.
My husband frequently reminds me that "perfect is the enemy of good enough." Particularly, for us, when it comes to plans for organizing / decluttering. (It's why I like Flylady's idea of planning to declutter only 15 minutes at a time - if I wait until I have long enough to do the whole office, I'll never do it.)
So how would you use a food processor to do this? Honestly, I have never baked bread (other than quickbreads and popovers). I'm intimidated by all the risings etc. But I'd kind of like to try it.
I am sure that growing up with the smell of baking challah and sandwich bread, and the love their mother put into baking them, will be intertwined with LG's and Baby Blue's lives. Smell is a powerful tool of memory - they may walk into bakeries or into houses smelling of fresh-baked bread, and mentally go back to the joys of Shabbat in the Scribbler/Blue home.
Now, I'd best scoot to the bakery to buy tonight's challah . . .
PS, I used to make challah every week. Now you're reminding me why. Thanks for the post. shabbat shalom.
forgot to mention that the chicken soup is cooking, kneidlach in the making -- to go with the challah (but the challah is store bought here tonight).
Your post struck a chord in me this week. Last night, a friend of ours asked what we had for dinner, and I answered- homemade chicken strips, steamed broccoli, spice cake. She said, "Wow! You guys are such gourmet chefs." Many other friends of ours have said this recently.
It amazes me that the college students (or recent grads) can think this way. But then I remember that they have spent (at least) the last 4 years of their lives eating dining-hall fare or Kraft Easy Mac. As for me, I grew up on fast-food and cereal, but started cooking 3 years ago for a regular Sunday dinner with friends.
As you stated, I was paralyzed at first because I wanted all my food to come out "perfect": matzoh ball soup, challah, lasagna, baked goods, latkes, etc. But after awhile (and a marriage to a garbage disposal/husband), I decided that I wanted to mess around with more recipes and techniques. After all, if it was adequate, Matt and I could still eat it. The funny thing was that the more I messed around with stuff, the more people kept saying how good all my food tasted!
Now I realize that "good enough" was great to all of my poor college friends, whose numb and tired taste buds were revitalized by food that wasn't just sugar and salt.
And, I love cooking.
Phantom,
What a great post!
And, I can attest that your bread IS DELICIOUS! Much more than "good enough"!
We're having store bought challah tonight, unfortunately, but for today around here, that will just have to be good enough!
Shabbat Shalom!
Great post! Although I killed my last batch of rolls by leaving the dough in the second rise for WAY too long.
If you want to bake in the bread machine, I've have good luck with the West Bend, but the dual paddle version. If you're just kneading, it makes less of a difference as Phantom said.
Phantom, where does your sandwich bread recipe come from? I've got good roll and speciality bread ones, but have not found a satisfactory sandwich one...
Phantom, your writing is beautiful. The love of baking or cooking is ultimately in the pleasure that we derive from it, both in the making and the eating. I doubt those artisan bakers get one-tenth of the joy from their perfectly crafted loag that LG gets from your slightly-more-porous-than-usual sandwich bread.
Can I come to your house for lunch?
I *love* this post. I wanted to bake bread regularly, but somehow didn't do it. I think part of the issue was that I wanted to make whole grain bread and my family prefers white, you know? And part of the issue was my general inability to get my act together. Maybe I'll get myself some new yeast and try again this weekend.
Do you think a bread machine is worth the investment for those of us who already have stand mixers?
Your advice in the last pgraph is priceless!
This is beautiful.
Oh, Beth, welcome to the bete noire of my existence. Should I try to cook x (where x is anything besides breakfast cereal) knowing that my family prefers to eat, well, breakfast cereal? Usually the answer is no. In fact, that's the other major reason why I like to bake bread -- my husband, at least, will eat the challah. And I'll eat the sandwich bread even if no one else will...
As to the stand mixer/bread machine question, I'm not sure I can answer that. For me the hard part of making bread is standing around to knead it, and either option solves that problem. But if your issue is not having enough time in the kitchen to babysit the bread through its rises, then a bread machine is worth the investment. I never liked the way the crust of the bread turned out in my bread machine, but, like I said, it's a nine-year-old model. They're probably more sophisticated these days.
Genevieve, some recipes suggest using the food processor to "knead" the dough. I think there's even a special plastic paddle that comes with some food processors for it. I've never tried it, but it probably wouldn't take more than an attempt or two to figure it out.
chichimama, I'm just using the recipe on the back of the King Arthur all-purpose flour bag, with a cup of whole wheat flour substituted for one cup of white, and one less tablespoon of oil. I'll send it to you if you don't have it lying around somewhere.
allison, thank you so much. But the truth is that LG and I are currently engaged in an awful power struggle in which he refuses to eat ANYTHING I make for him. I think he only eats the sandwich bread because he senses that I'm making it for myself.
jeni, I wish you could send some of those college friends to my house. My friends in real life know I complain constantly about not having anyone to experiment for. Mr. Blue is a paragon of a husband in all respects, but let's just say that LG comes by his picky eating honestly. And I wish it didn't hurt my feelings as much as it does.
Liz, I'd be thrilled to have you over for lunch!
I'll check my King Aurthur stash, thanks!
Phantom, this is one of your best. posts. ever! You really should submit it somewhere, even if only to a Carnival of Vanities or baking.
Only, do fix the typo first. I am inappropriately tickled pink that, for the first time I can remember, I spotted an actual grammatical error in one of your posts. 
I'm so glad you're not quite perfect in that category, anyway, since I am so often careless myself.
It's so funny that we were both posting about food today.
Oh my god. Thank you for this post.
Today's tasks include (1) finish fixing a few little details on the house so it wll be ready to show to a potential buyer tomorrow; and (2) baking bread. Before I run out and buy a bread machine, I'm going to try to use the dough hook on my KitchenAid.
Thanks for the inspiration - Miss M has enjoyed baking bread every time we've done it. Hopefully I can incorporate this into a more regular routine in my new, simpler life.
hmm-forgot about the dough hook that came with my KitchenAid. As much as I've wanted to play more with bread baking, there are a few problems with baking here currently...12 actually. Would anyone like to adopt a lovable kitty?
However, a bread machine...a nice, sealed environment...where is my Mothers' Day wishlist?!?
*sigh* where is the other half of that comment, HaloScan?? One more time for the fans:
This is a great post! Your bread-making is a triumph of substance over form. Since I spend so much of my time in an environment where the opposite seems to be valued, this was almost painfully delightful to read. Thanks!
Oooo, good catch, PK. How embarrassing. Though, considering that I wrote half the post with LG hanging off my arm asking me questions, I guess I should feel thankful that I didn't make even stupider mistakes...
Let us know how it goes, Devilmacdawg!
Thanks, you guys. (Blushing.)
Ah, Phantom, this is beautiful!
Beth, you might want to try the King Arthur "White Whole Wheat" flour. It's whole wheat, but made from winter wheat, so it's pale in color and not as strongly flavored as regular whole wheat. (But it's not as glutenous as white flour, so you still probably want to mix it with white flour.)
I should go pull my sourdough starter out of the fridge and feed it.
Wow. People who make their own challah knock my socks off. I would love to but am constantly intimidated. (I did try, once, years ago, to make whole wheat challah and it was only so-so.)
I do sort of entertain this fantasy of staying up late and baking bread and feeding my kids fresh homemade yummies in the morning
But then I remember that there is nobody else to cook the rest of our Shabbat meals...I guess it is a time crunch thing. Sigh.
I adore my bread machine. It allows me to have skills I otherwise would not have. But Challah, wow, I would love to be able to make that - my college roommate turned me onto it, and I loooooooove it.
Beautiful.
One of the things I've realized is that the careful selection of ingredients & digital whatnot can get in the way of serendipity. As in, when you put 1/2 tsp of basil and 1/4 tsp of rosemary instead of the other way around, the herbed bread is much more yummy. To me. And I'm the cook.
Must. Come. Here. More. Often.
I make just about everthing homemade... except bread! My kid always asks to make pizza, which I can do, but he wants to "roll out the dough," which makes me cringe as I'm envisioning a nice Boboli crust. LOL
I think it's the attitude in the cookbooks you describe that really intimidates me from it. That and I'm kind of lazy...
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