#5 Bake A Loaf Of Bread

Yesterday I baked a loaf of gluten free bread.  I've always wanted to try to make a loaf of bread.  Fresh bread.  Damn that bread that comes out of the oven is sooo good and warm and tasty how could you not eat it? 

It was a beautiful Saturday morning and I was up early.  Birds were chirping, the sun's rays were catching dust particles in the lounge room and a fresh bunch of flowers was on my dining room table.  To top it off the smell of baked bread was wafting into the lounge room from my kitchen.

They say that your energy, your "vibe" goes into the food that you make and you can taste the mood in the food.  (Rhyme unintended)  It makes sense to me.  Cooking is a physical thing and energy is transferred from chef to meal as ingredients are mixed, stirred, chopped and prepared.  

Rage was on the telly and the guest programmer was obviously someone cool because I was mixing gluten free flour and vegetable oil to Outkast's 'Hey Ya', kneading to the beat of David Bowie's 'Heroes' and rolling out the non stick baking paper to Kylie Minogue's 'Better Than Today'.  The love and the enjoyment of these songs was mixed into the dough and baked in the oven.

Thirty five minutes later a perfect loaf of gluten free bread is on my kitchen bench cooling down on a wire rack.

I was elated that my bread had turned out so superbly.  Baking bread is a bit funny what with all the waiting times.  Mix the yeast with luke warm water, wait 5 minutes.  Shape the dough in a ball, cover in a tea towel in a warm draft-free area, wait 5 minutes.  Knead for ten minutes, wrap the dough in clear plastic, allow it to double in size, wait one hour.  

I never really understand how and why people say "I can't cook". I mean, how can you not be able to cook??  You get a recipe you follow the instructions, the recipe tells you what to do, there's no mystery in cooking so how can you not cook??!!??  I have to admit that I didn't think my bread would turn out so well!  Even though I knew I would follow the steps I just thought the bread would do its own thing.  Alas, I was wrong and the bread was amazing!  


Now I can't wait to bake bread for the people I love, albeit it to an appropriately cool soundtrack.