Baking Bread

I bake almost all the bread we use. I started when we moved here and visited the local grocery to buy bread. The only bread available was the mass produced squooshy white bread and some similar whole wheat colored bread. I went home and started baking, immediately. This was ten years ago, so the routines are set, the baking is not stressful, and it seems natural to start bread as soon as I finish the outside morning chores. I'm not weird about it. If I get in a bind or crave Broadstreet sourdough baguettes, I buy them and don't feel guilty. Nonetheless, baking bread feels good and I do it often.

The bread I bake is made with only the best ingredients. There is no high fructose corn syrup and no preservative that will keep it fresh for weeks. My favorite bread has only wheat flour, water, honey, butter, yeast, and salt. The crusty exterior, light brown interior and full bodied taste are worth every kneading minute.

"Okay," you ask yourself, "Why is she writing about making bread?"

It may sound a bit weird, but I would like my whole life to be like bread baking. I want everything to feel this good. By not supporting the mass produced, preservative laden, artificially enhanced bags of squooshy wheat product, we move towards sustainability, we eat a quality food that is nutritious(without artificial additives) and delicious, and we save money.

How do we save money when the commercial bread is frequently on sale for two loaves for a dollar? We save because raw bulk goods are cheaper than you would expect and with homemade bread we don't eat multiple sandwiches to satisfy our cravings. My homemade sandwich whole wheat bread costs about 85 cents a loaf plus my time which I am donating because it feels so good. Now 85 cents each does not compete with two for a dollar, but whole wheat is almost never two for a dollar. But, the "mama bread" is honest so our bodies feel satisfied because our bodies know how to process the ingredients and the bread is more substantial so smaller portions are needed.