The Simple Things

Will I leave this world regretting the recipes I never made? Or will my zeal to make as many as I can hasten that day? Is it bad that the main reason I'm looking forward to having kids is so that I'll have more people to cook for and can thus make more things? So many times I have to wait and wait to make recipes since I don't want to make them just for me and Ryan. I mean...if we ate everything I wanted to make, we would balloon up and float away. So I have to stick to the healthy stuff when it's just us two and then take joy in carting fattening hors d'oeuvres and desserts to whatever potluck or family gathering I go to.

The pains of a dietitian who loves to cook.

I feel as if I'm trying to make up for the past month of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I ate for lunch by making three different things a day since my last final.

So...I made a goal.

I will post every day (except Christmas Eve and Christmas...probably) until I am caught up telling you all about what I've been up to.

Hold me to it!

Whole Wheat Harvest Bread
adapted from Making Fresh Bread by Love Food

Makes one medium loaf or two extra small loaves

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp milk
1.5 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup + 3 tbsp lukewarm water

Whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, oil and lukewarm water. Stir well with a wooden spoon until the dough begins to come together, then knead with your hands until it leaves the side of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured counter  (or baking sheet to cut down on mess) and knead well for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Don't clean up the flour yet!

Brush a bowl with oil. Shape the dough into a ball, put it into the bowl, and put the bowl into a plastic bag or cover with a damp dish towel. Let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until the dough has doubles in volume.

Spray a 6.5x4.25x3.25" loaf pan with cooking spray...or two extra small pans...which is what I did. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured counter, punch down with your fist and knead for 1 minute. With lightly floured hands, shape it into the appropriately sized rectangle(s) and flatten slightly. Fold it lengthwise into 3 and place in the prepared pan(s), seam side down. Put the pan(s) into a plastic bag or cover with a damp dish towel and let rise in the warm place for 30 minutes, until the dough has reached the top of the pan. You can clean up the flour now.

Preheat the oven to 425. Bake for 30 minutes (less if using small pans), until it has shrunk from the sides of the pan, the crust is golden brown, and it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom with your knuckles. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.