Easy Bread Making

The headline for my blog, I thought, was an oxymoron. I had tried to make bread and been very unsuccessful at it. But I still really wanted to make bread; it's the most nurturing thing you can do with food.

Mark and Julia (son and daughter-in-law) talked to me about a book they had discovered that made bread making easy: "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day."

Then they sent me a copy for my birthday. I read the book, agonized over it, and finally made my first batch of dough today. It was way too simple, I told Mark (he's here for a few days). But then the dough rose like it was supposed to. No kneading. Now it's in the refrigerator; yes the cold refrigerator.

Tomorrow morning I will break off a hunk of dough about equal to a grapefruit (1 pound for those of you with a scale) and put it in the oven. No pan, just a baking stone with lots of corn meal on it. I'll let you know what happens.