Thursday, January 7, 2010

I am not a baker


First
of all
I need
to post
Ryan's
lunch,
my only
success
of the
day
despite
rather
empty
cup-
boards.

Ryan's
lunch:
an
apple;
hummus
and
lettuce roll-up sandwiches on flax lavash; soy cheese skewers; a pickle; a carrot.

Now on to the epic failure of my first attempt with my father's old bread machine. If you recall, I did finally bake some successful loaves of bread in 2009 the old fashioned way. But I thought it would be quicker and easier and better to try the bread machine. I couldn't have been more wrong...






















AJ and Nate waited patiently...for 3 1/2 hours...watching through the little window...until it finally beeped and revealed what AJ said "looks a lot like popcorn!"

I don't think Maia will
ever enjoy fresh bread
like I had in my youth.
I'll try to dig up the
photo back in the 70s
of my father's first
attempt at bread making.
But at least his was edible.
Actually to be honest, we
picked at this, stuff, for
an hour or so, dipping
the bits in strawberry jam and it actually TASTED like bread, but sure wasn't too functional.

I will try again. Maybe in a week when my ego and patience has recovered.

6 comments:

lara said...

Have you tried the No Knead Bread? So little work, just requires time. Comes out crusty and delicious! And it just uses salt, yeast, flour, and water, which I believe will work for your family.

veganf said...

I've thought about trying that no-knead recipe. But honestly I don't want crusty bread for everyday use--I want some sandwich loaves, which my father was such an expert at producing. Though he often started his bread in the machine, then did the final rise outside of it and baked it in the regular oven. But I will experiment!

Alie said...

Yikes! I've had loaves come out like that before from my bread machine. My diagnosis is you need more water (or any liquid). If you peek in your machine and it looks like that you can add water as long as you aren't too far into the cycle - like within the first 5 minutes is fine.

veganf said...

I was thinking it needed more liquid too, either that or the bread flour was too old (though the package was unopened). I used a couple T of soy powder, which I don't think is a good replacement for dry milk, but it was all I had on hand. There is an alarm and flashing "Add" segment early on, but it didn't look like that yet. I'll have to watch things more closely, instead of just letting the kids tell me it looks like popcorn, LOL.

Tahn said...

Shame your first loaf came out so crumbly. At least it tasted good and wasn't a complete waste!

Anonymous said...

It only looks like you didn't add enough liquid. I love using my bread machine, not only for the convenience but also because sometimes I just can't knead the dough (due to my RA). Oftentimes I will just make the dough in the machine and then bake it off in the oven. Don't give up! Practice makes perfect.