A week of carbs

There is nothing yummier then a fresh hot out of the oven loaf of bread, no?

Add a little butter, or honey- and it is pretty much the coziest taste in the world.  

My family loves fresh bread too- only problem is that I can not for the life of me make it.   My sister Jewel makes the best bread/rolls EVER and don't get me started on her homemade cream puffs!

I think I've just grown content to let her be the expert.  (so long as she shares with me;)

This year though- I have resolved to learn for myself how to make it bread, and I'm beginning to wonder how many practice loaves it will take;)

Last Sunday the cold weather sunk in (we're talking -40 degrees) and I decided to make a yummy chicken and rice soup with fresh homemade bread.   Considering John's Dad would be joining us, I think this was a quite ambitious endeavor on my part.    When I pulled this loaf out of the oven and placed it on the table it looked PERFECT!    Even the first slice looked good.   I started freaking out and taking pictures of my successful loaf of bread.  (John and Max both thought I was overreacting a bit, but that's only because I wouldn't let anybody eat until I'd finished rejoicing.)

Sadly though, after the first slice, it all went down hill.    The core of the bread was only half cooked and was still completely doughy.    Even worse though, was the huge hollowed out pockets of air.   A couple of cuts into this loaf, and it looked more like a doughy hunk of swiss cheese.   

On Monday, I decided to give it another try.    After our previous fiasco the night before, Max had given me a few tips, which I was sure would help.    So, for family home evening we tried making CTR pretzel bread.    The kids shaped it themselves, were proud as punch when it came out of the oven, and gobbled up every last piece, so I really should call this one a success.   The truth is though, my kids would eat anything if it was smothered in honey butter, and well...just look at it!

Later in the week I decided to try one.more.time to make some bread that I could be proud of.   

I tried another pretzel recipe and actually think these little morsels turned out looking pretty darn good.   Only problem is that I'd sprinkled them with salt (they were pretzels after all) and a little too much of it!  

When enjoyed with a VERY tall glass of water, they weren't that bad:)  

I'm pretty sure I've made every mistake in the book when it comes to making bread, but I'm determined that sometime this year- I'll get it figured it out. 

Fourth time's a charm right?