mmmmm....bread

Apparently, not being able to use my kitchen while we have been working on it caused me to not want to do anything but be able to cook something in my kitchen.  Rational.  Right.

Kind of like the time I briefly took up running.  Mostly I think because right before that little running stage, I was on a research trip for four weeks on a 300' ship.  So, apparently not being able to walk more than 300' in any one direction causes you to take up a sport that you have never really cared for.  Weird how your brain works.

Anywho...I love bread.  Pretty much any kind of bread, but I especially love me some good, crusty bread kind of bread.  mmmm

So, when I came across the book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, I was intrigued.

So, when I got the book, I cracked it open, ready to discover the secret.  And then I got pissed.  The "secret" was to make big batches ahead of time and then bake it off a little at a time.  How annoying!  Or, so I thought...

So, I put it back up on the shelf, a little irritated that I just bought another bread cook book that I will probably never use.  Because as much as I love me some good bread, sometimes it is just WAY easier to buy it already made for you.

And then, last week, I was cruising around on the Tasty Kitchen website and ran into this recipe and, specifically, this comment at the very bottom of the post"(Recipe is adapted from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day. I think they are geniuses wrapped in a blanket of smart and smothered in awesomeness.)" Geniuses wrapped in a blanket of smart and smothered in awesomeness!  Hmmph, might I have misjudged?

So I pulled it off the shelf and gave it another looksie.  And you know what, it is actually a very simple process.  Far less involved than just making a large quantity of a regular artisan bread recipe.  So, I stand corrected.  And then I stood and got everything I needed to make their basic Boule recipe.  Whipped up the first batch and whadya know...it worked!! 

Isn't it pretty!

I swear to you that I made that...in my oven...the first time I tried it.  I don't know about you, but I call that success.  Success is good because it makes you want to keep at it...not like the running thing.

I haven't made the donuts yet, but they are up next...

In Case Anyone was Wondering...

what I was going to make in my newly vented kitchen...

these are your answer.

God Bless PW and Vent-a-Hood.

Now my house won't smell like a Chinese food restaurant.