Baking Bread...by Lisa

I bake bread, every week for the last year, sometimes twice a week. Here’s a link to the recipe, it’s a Youtube video, about 5 minutes long. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Ah9ES2yTU

I ask my son for a recipe, and he sends me a link to a Youtube video—even recipes aren’t written on paper anymore. I read this week that blogs are out and Twitter is in. Guess I'm old fashioned. A friend of mine once said that when you're 50, everything's new. Well make that 46 now. 

I’ll give you the recipe here if you don’t feel like watching the video:

3 cups flour (all purpose is fine, I use bread flour and like it better). For whole wheat, replace not more than ½ cup of the flour with whole wheat flour.

¼ teaspoon rapid rise yeast (yes, just ¼ teaspoon)

1 & ¼ teaspoon salt (regular table salt)

approximately 1&1/3 cups water

Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Place bowl of dough inside a plastic grocery bag and twist the bag and tuck it underneath. Let sit for 12 to 24 hours (I usually make dough and bake the next day). To bake, use enameled cast iron dutch oven with lid. Prehead oven and cast iron (ungreased) to 450 degrees (screamin’ hot). While oven is heating, remove dough, which will be wet and sticky, from bowl and place on flour or cornmeal-covered surface (I like the crunch of cornmeal, you can also use wheat bran or just flour). Do not knead! Pat into a circle, then fold the left side of the dough in, right side over that, then fold in the top and bottom to form a round loaf. Let rest while oven heats. When oven is hot, carefully remove lid to dutch oven and toss the dough in, then replace lid. Bake 30 minutes with lid on, then remove lid and bake another 10 minutes. Remove loaf carefully and cool on a rack, it will not stick at all to the enameled cast iron. You will have a beautiful round loaf that tastes delicious. After fully cooling the loaf on a rack, I store mine in a plastic bag. Slice it, toast it, and serve with cream cheese and jam—yummy!