Inevitable the winter brings the need to find entertainment indoors while fantasizing about spring, summer and fall. I stare at the kitchen waiting for the inspiration to dictate what I can do. After I decide what tunes to listen to and what ingredients we have, I begin to make things. The warmth coming from the soapstone wood stove rises up the basement stairs and persuades me to make bread. I use the same dough recipe that I use for our pizza parties. I modify the recipe by doing the following: mixing all purpose and local whole wheat bread, mixing herbs or seeds in and shaping the loaf in different ways. I love experimenting with the same recipe. I try to pay close attention to the relationship between how the dough is shaped, cooled and baked in the oven and what the outcome is. Making two batches simultaneously yields 8 lbs. worth of bread. We freeze the loaves and use them weekly. The smell of baking fresh bread is the best and even though I sometimes bake it after dinner and dessert, I find myself giving in to the desire of slicing a piece and eating it with our homemade goat ricotta cheese.
