Fresh baked bread is one of the most belly-warming gifts you can give your family. I will never say otherwise: mastering yeast dough can be tricky. If you don't have a high-quality stand mixer (like Kitchenaid) or a bread machine you have to knead and knead and knead. Frankly, ain't nobody got time for that. I make four loaves a week, and if I had to hand-knead the dough I probably wouldn't do it. Don't get me wrong, it can be done, and I used to knead bread by hand before I got a stand mixer. Now, my Kitchenaid 6 quart is my best friend in the kitchen.
This is the best bread recipe I've found. I often substitute coconut oil for butter and part whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour. I buy yeast at Sam's club in large bricks (remember: extra yeast needs to be stored in the fridge). You can also buy it at the grocery store in a jar; the packets just seem really useless if you're going to be baking with yeast every week. Even though I am not an expert and am still learning, I would be happy to help you learn to make yeast dough if you'd like. Yesterday, in fact, when I made bread I let it rise too long. Oh well. It still tastes good.
Bread gets a bad name, and somewhat rightly so. The loaf of bread you buy in a bag at the store is basically bleached flour, sugar, and air. When you make bread from scratch YOU control what goes into it making it vastly more nutritious and safe...and DELICIOUS!!
Back to my original theory: Life is a lot like a loaf of bread. I know it seems a bit ridiculous, but it's true. There are a few things that have to happen in order for us to become who we are, just like that happy little loaf of bread.
First, the best and simplest ingredients make the best loaf. Bread isn't fancy; it's simple and satisfying. Bread doesn't demand or require an expensive list of components. Neither should we demand what we don't need or require expensive goods to be happy. Confucius said, "Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated." Letting go of comparison is the first step to enjoying the simple life.
Next, bread needs to to beat up. Bread needs to be kneaded and pushed around and folded and turned upside down. Every single one of us has gone through times when we felt like we couldn't take it any longer; like going on was just too hard. It's cliche, but as the saying goes, "Tough times don't last, but tough people do." Every push, every tug, every turn is making you better.
What happens if we knead our loaf of bread but don't let it rest?? It never becomes a loaf of bread. It instead becomes a hard, crusty log of cooked dough. Bread needs to rest in order to rise, as do we. Rest is our time to reflect on what we love and what we need to change. Rest is our time to recharge our batteries. Rest is what lets us recover from life's pounding and become what we truly are.
Finally, bread needs a friend to help it turn from dough to loaf: heat. Now, I'm not saying that you need heat, but this time of the year a little sun wouldn't hurt, you know? What you need is a friend to compliment you and to provide you exactly what you need (not too much, not too little) to live life to its fullest. I hope that making a commitment to building your Village is part of your Best Me plan because your little loaf of bread is counting on it!
If you haven't already started a consistent yoga practice, I wish that you would. Yoga provides you with some vital parts of your life as a loaf of bread. :-)
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