Liz's Story

Yesterday I went to a stake emergency preparedness fair. I had planned on attending several classes because I thought they were each a half an hour long and they sounded like they would be interesting (72 hour kits, gardening and canning, food storage). But when I got there, I found out that they were longer and first class I had planned on attending (Wheat and Bread) was going to take almost the whole time. I hurried around to the other classes and tried to get whatever handouts I could. And then decided I was most interested in the bread class. I am so glad I attended. I watched the process from start (grinding the wheat) to finish (tasting the yummy baked goods).
Later that day, I talked to my friend Amy, who is a lot more ambitious than me and who had come home from the class and actually repeated the process at home. I, of course, figured I would eventually make the bread, but would put it off for a little while like I usually do and then would probably never actually get around to making it. Well, Amy invited me to come and try what she had made. It was great! So great in fact, that with a little encouragement from Amy, I decided to come home and try it myself. I was only going to make 1/2 of the recipe because the whole recipe makes 4 loaves and I wasn't sure it would all fit in my Kitchen Aid. So I put in half of the amount of flour and then continued reading the recipe and put in the next 3 ingredients and then realized I had forgotten to half them. So I ended up having to make the whole batch anyway. In the end, I think it turned out pretty good. My friend, Emily, tried it and assured me it was great, but I think I still have some room for improvement.
So, after months of saying I am going to bake my own bread (ever since I bought all that wheat!), I think I might actually do it now! Amazingly, I think this was my first time ever making regular bread! Using yeast has always kind of intimidated me, but this recipe was so simple and quick, I might be able to handle it!
I made 3 loaves of wheat bread and 2 little round loaves of artisan bread (I think that's what they are called) with Italian seasonings. I even got cute little bread bags to put them in! And yes, I was so proud I took a lot of pictures.....