Homemade Bread

I had tried making bread several times with results that were better suited for construction or door stops than for eating.  Typically this effort was the result of frustration after visiting the grocery store. My preferred bread not being restocked and I could not find another kind that I liked. 

In the fall 2010 I reached that state again, but this time decided to try it using a bread machine.  While the machines make funny shaped loaves, but had positive reviews for the quality of the bread. I purchased one of the least expensive models and a couple of cookbooks on making bread with a bread machine. And I was very surprised that after a little experimenting, it actually worked as advertised!

Since then we have been enjoying a lot of home made bread and almost no store bought.  It has been mostly “hearty” multi-grain bread with lots of healthy extras that is delicious toasted with preserves in the morning.  But it has been a bit too heavy for sandwich use.  Finally I got up the nerve to try a sandwich bread.  Much to my amazement it turned out perfectly.  The pictured light whole wheat loaf had a softer texture and sliced nicely for sandwiches.  Hopefully the experiment will be repeatable.  Maybe one of these days I will try making my own hamburgers and hotdog rolls.

Talk about the weather

I have lived in California long enough that it now seems normal for the hillsides to be green at Christmas and by Memorial Day weekend they have turned a crispy brown shade (otherwise called “golden” in the tourist information.)Summer weather is typically month’s of the same forecast — just minor adjustments for the temperature highs and lows.

This year has been an exception in that respect.  Late rains were just enough so that some faint patches of green still remained on most of our nearby hills by the end of May.  The weather for the first weekend in June has been even more remarkable.  It actually rained! Not the “it never rains in California in the summer” rain where most of it dries before hitting the sidewalk.  Not the coastal fog so thick that the moisture drips from trees.  But actual, normal, enough to refill the bird bath, real rain.

So it rained on a couple of parades.  Countless outdoor events were dampened.  Some crops were at critical stages and received damage. But compared to the floods, tornadoes, fires and other natural disasters in the recent news, this was more of a case of Mother Nature providing many California residents a little something extra to help us remember the weekend events.

Starting Points

It is said that even the longest journey starts with a single step. That first step often seems to be the hardest to make. I wonder if that is why so many books and movies start in the middle of the story and fill in the earlier details later. I think that’s how I will begin here.