fucked up how cooking and baking from scratch is viewed as a luxury…..like baking a loaf of bread or whatever is seen as something that only people with money/time can do. I’m not sure why capitalism decided to sell us the idea that we can’t make our own damn food bc it’s a special expensive thing that’s exclusive to wealthy retirees but it’s stupid as hell and it makes me angry
bread takes like max 4 ingredients counting water and sure it takes a couple hours but 80% of that is just waiting around while it does the thing and you can do other things while it’s rising/baking
plus im not gonna say baking cured my depression bc it didn’t but man is it hard to feel down when you’re eating slices of fresh bread you just made yourself. feels like everything’s gonna be a little more ok than you thought. it’s good.
bread is amazing and it’s also been sold to us as something really hard to make? Every time I tell someone I made a loaf of bread I get reactions like “you made it yourself???” and “do you have a bread machine then?”
I haven’t touched a bread machine in probably 10 years.
You CAN make your own bread, folks, and it’s actually pretty cheap to do so. I believe the most expensive thing I needed for it was the jar of yeast. It was about $6 at the grocery store and lasted me MONTHS (just keep it in the fridge.) The packets are even cheaper.
destroy capitalism. bake your own bread.You can also make your own yeast by making a sourdough starter, so that cuts cost even more.
But you have to feed the starter daily/weekly and that means it grows quickly, but there are tons of recipes online for what to do with your excess starter. Cookies, pretzels, crackers, pancakes, waffles, you name it!!
it may not be as appealing to some folks but if kneading dough is bad texturally or too much physical effort for you (both my reasons), you don’t have the space or something else, simple bread machines can be found very cheap on craiglist, buy/sell groups on facebook or in thrift stores. at that point the hardest part becomes cutting the bread–which i can’t do anymore due to my chronic pain, and is the only reason i stopped. it’s still super fulfilling to make something so basic for yourself and save money doing it.
When I could still eat wheat, my go-to was “one of everything” bread.
A cup of lukewarm water
a packet/tablespoon of yeast
A teaspoon of sugar
and a tiny pinch of salt.
I’d proof that (dump in stuff and let it rest until bubbly, about 10 min) and then toss in flour until the dough was sticky but not too stiff to stir.
Pour that out onto an oiled baking sheet (I’d line with silicone now) and oil the top, scatter coarse salt on top. Let it rise for a bit.
Bake.
If I was feeling fancy I would use rosemary infused olive oil and press half cloves of garlic into the top crust.
Basic focaccia. Works as pizza crust. Fine on its own. REALLY easy, everything happens in one bowl, no floury counter.
@jenroses how long would you let it rise?
….
Until it rises? Until I remember it’s there? Until it’s bigger than it was? Until I get impatient and shove it in the oven anyway?
(Assume 45 minutes, adjust for warmer or colder rooms)
Also, I used half whole wheat half white flour, once upon a time. But it’s really not that fussy. The amount of flour is probably in the vicininty of 2-3 cups, IIRC. VERY flexible recipe though.
(I suppose @iwritevictuuri you’ll want me to tell you like, how long to bake it and how hot. The answer is IDK and I don’t remember but somewhere between 350 and 425 and probably between 20-30 minutes. Hotter will probably make it crustier and cook faster.)
Published
Time's Vengeance 