Slowing Down and Making Bread

This weekend per usual we had big big plans. Go here, do this experience this..blah blah blah...

That all changed after a phone call from a friend and waking up with a sore throat.  Instead of a busy weekend running around we have mostly hung out and done nothing.  With both kiddos out of the house on Friday night the hubs and I hung out and I made muffins.  Baking is a favorite activity of mine and with a school function coming that I am cooking for the chance to make a try it out batch was perfect. We watched a movie, filled the house with yummy smells and eventually picked up our little happy zombie girl from daycare date night.

The next day again was planned, but immediately rescheduled to nothing in an instant.   Being gluten free unless I want to pay like 5 dollars for a loaf of bread that tastes so so I have to make it myself. Making bread is one of those baking skills I was never really all that good at.  Generally I don't take the time to make sure every thing is measured right, with proper temperature and the like.  With the kiddos distracted with various activities throughout the house, I decided to bake some bread, and actually pay attention to what was doing.  Baking bread is a throw back to me of my family far away. My dads mother and a number of his sisters all bake. When his sisters came to visit us from Newfoundland they brought their bread baking bowls with them. They used to warm their bread on my waterbed. For me homemade bread is love in a warm home made slice with butter.

Off the nostalgia kick and back on to my usual bread baking misadventures. Mixing the right gluten free bread combo to cook what you want can be really tough so I buy the remixed loaves.  Ultimately these mixes I get are the add oil, eggs, and water and it is all good. The thing that vexes me every single time I cook it the adding the yeast part, I have been wrestling with this forever and not succeeding. My yeast never rises and the assumption was that the water wasn't warm enough, I was wrong. This time when I poured the water I used the meat thermometer, the water turned out to be about 140 degrees, just a little warm for yeast since it is suppose to be about 110 degrees.  I had all the ingredients ready so just hung out until it was time. I decided to hand stir it also just to make sure all the ingredients mixed well without over stirring from a mixer. While all this was happening I helped the kids, picked up the kitchen and generally enjoyed the relaxation of nothing to do but watch bread bake. When the yeast was done I mixed everything and put the bread aside to rise then bake. The house smelled amazing, the bread was great and slowing down made all the difference.