Maybe it's growing up in California with sourdough (which is a way of life). And then living in the San Francisco Bay Area with all the fabulous independent bread bakers. Arguing over who makes the best seeded sandwich roll (Semifreddi); the best sourdough baguette (Acme); and whether it's going overboard to create a menu around Metropolis' Walnut and Scallion bread.
And making bread is such a wonderful grounding experience. Whether you're doing the basic recipe in your bread machine, or spending a day making by hand the whole wheat loaves from the Tassajara Bread Book - when you pull that loaf out of the oven, the sense of accomplishment is fabulous!
I knew that in this life - we'd get to try lots of different breads from all around the world. It's great to see what people do with some flour, water, salt and yeast. The breads in Brazil are lots of fun. There's pao de quiejo - the wonderful Brazilian cheese bread made with manioc flour, and hard french rolls. My friend did a great post about the varieties of bread here. But I've been missing a good, crusty bread - both the making and the eating.
A few years ago there was a great article in the NY Times about a new way to make bread - the "no-knead" method. It inspired many to try it and was very successful. It even created a shortage of instant yeast in New York for a time.
It's great to make, super yummy and comes out beautifully.
It also helps that I've got a wonderful clay cooker to bake the bread in. The recipe I've been using is from the Breadtopia website - which is also where I got my new sourdough starter - can't wait to have sourdough bread again.
But in the meantime - this is nice and crusty!
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