About My Blog

About 7 years ago some good friends of ours gave me a lump of rising bread dough in a Tupperware container and lent me a book about bread-baking by Beth Hensperger.

After my first experiment with baking bread in my kitchen I was enamored with the experience. Of course that first loaf was just the beginning. Someone else had made it, I just baked it. I wanted more so I opened the book and started on my journey to become a weekend baker.

After reading Beth's book (which unfortunately has gone out of print, but I believe it was: Beth's Basic Bread Book) I decided to try my hand at the most traditional bread recipie - pain ordinaire (we know it as French Bread):

• 1.5 packages (1.5 tablespoons) active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees Fahrenheit)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 cups unbleached all-purprose flour
• Cornmeal for dusting
• Egg Glaze (see page 115)

I was confounded. Her book (an a few others I had checked out from the library) had told me that bread was 4 basic ingredients:

• Flour
• Water
• Yeast
• Salt

What was going on here? Why sugar? Egg Glaze? I was intrigued.

Of course the loaf came out a bit odd. I still did not know what to do or how to do it, but the tasted wonderful and I was committed to try again.

So after 365 weekends and 300+ loaves of bread I think I've hit my stride. I just hope I can share what I've learned here.

-Matt the Weekend Baker