House Spouse

Simple does not equal fast and easy.

The meditative process of bread-baking is simple, but the amount of time and care it takes to churn out a lovely loaf is neither easy nor fast. I still lack the sense of intuition true bakers possess, but the calming and centering qualities of the process are not lost on me.

I made two different breads this Sunday, both from Nigella Lawson’s How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Norwegian Mountain Loaf and Garlic and Parsley Hearth Bread. The former was a quick bread, in which I stirred the ingredients together and baked. The other involved kneading and rising.

For now, here are some pictures. School just got started back up for me, so I’ll have to post the recipes later.

The top photos are the garlic and parsley hearth bread. They were delicious and soft and crusty and salty and garlicky… The photo on the left is the Norwegian Mountain loaf, made with rye and whole wheat flours, rolled oats and flax seeds (although Nigella called for wheat germ and linseeds). It was too salty for my taste. The recipes calls for a whole tablespoon of salt! I’ll try making this again with slightly less milk and about 1/3 of the salt (or less!)

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