Laughing Thyme Farm: Living the Dream

A few years ago I got into the habit of making homemade organic whole wheat bread.  It tasted good and was healthier than anything I could buy at the store….and cheaper.  Well, that lasted about one year.  About two years ago I was going through some issues that left me feeling pretty down-in-the-dumps.  As a result, I didn’t feel like making bread anymore. 

Fast-forward to a year ago-  I was feeling better and felt like cooking more, but the kitchen in the teeny-tiny apartment we were renting was also teeny-tiny.  So because of the cramped quarters, I still didn’t make any homemade bread. 

Fast-forward to the present time-  We moved to this new house with a nice and roomy, but not too big kitchen.  But I’ve been busy unpacking things and canning and gardening.  Then I went through my first trimester of pregnancy where I was dead tired.  (Just making some bacon and eggs made me exhausted.)  So still no bread.  Then suddenly my energy returned, but I still didn’t make bread.  This is because I was out of the habit of it. 

This past month I’ve decided that I’m only going to make homemade bread.  I’ve been mostly successful in achieving this goal.  I have some French rolls that I make that are good and almost always turn out.  Then about a week ago I tried this recipe that I used to use all of the time when making bread.  Um, yeah.  I forgot to grease my pan.  The bread stuck to the bottom.  I was very aggrevated!  But I’m also kind of stubborn, so I decided to try it again today.  I even was “brave” and made a double batch to save myself some time.  But this time I greased my pans with butter.  

The bread was raising beautifully.  I stuck the pans into the oven and hoped that it would turn out for the good.  Then when they came out of the oven, I waited 10 minutes before the great climax.  I was hoping for the best– my bread coming out without any problems with none of the bottom of the loaf stuck to the pan.  But in all honesty, I was really skeptical….darn slightly pessimistic person that I am.  And both loaves slid right out.  They looked mouth-wateringly perfect.  I put them on a wooden cutting board to cool and went to finish homeschooling the girls.

All of my pride was vain though, as I walked back into the kitchen and looked at the bread on the countertop.  There on the bottom of the loaves were chunks taken out of the bottom of the bread.  Apparently Liam was hungry and the bread looked good.  And I guess that one loaf wasn’t enough….he had to try pieces from both of them.  I would gather that I am destined to have loaves of bread with chunks on the bottom of them, whether from my own baking mistakes or because of hungry little boys.