My Trials with Baking..

In the perilous quest to become an equally as amazing cook as my mother, I have recently begun to bake my own bread. Going into this, I was well aware of the fact that a person with only a small amount of experience in the culinary arts cannot simply look up a recipe, follow that recipe, and expect incredible results. That being said, you have to start somewhere right?

So, I started my baking experience with Whole Wheat Bread. Simple, delicious, and seemingly easy. Kind of. Little did I know what a disappointment my bread would be :(

My first attempt (which is where most of these pictures are from) seemed like it was going well. Except that I used ALL whole wheat flour... my first mistake. The recipe I used called for only %100 whole wheat flour, so I followed the recipe (more on this later), finished making my dough, and popped it in the oven.

I didn't even bother to take a picture of the finished product. It was heavy, dense, and extremely moist inside. I smelled like raw dough, and the only way I could choke it down was by slathering it in Nutella. I ended up throwing out the loaf, which if you know me, is a testament to how bad this "bread" really was. I never waste food, in fact my roommates call me the Garbage Disposal, because anytime they don't want to eat something of theirs, I take it happily.


My second attempt was better. Slightly. I was better educated in the bread making process. I had learned that for the bread to taste like, well, bread you must use at least two different type of flour. Whoops! I also forgot to distribute the sweetener (I used pure agave nectar) throughout the recipe, instead I added it all in the beginning. I forgot to add an egg which is supposed to do... something good, I can't really remember right now, which is probably why I forgot it originally. Poo.

I probably made other mistake which I am unaware of. The second attempt came out tasting better, but looking worse... It was still pretty dense, and I couldn't get it to rise past the rim of my bread pan so it looked similar to a brick.

If there are any more experienced bakers reading this that could shed some light on my mistakes, I would LOVE to hear from you!

I'm still learning, and I think that if every time I try something new, and it turns out slightly better than the last, thats a success!

Yup,

Kasey

Household Beauty

Some photos from around my apartment and my mother's house in Scottsdale, AZ. 

It's surprisingly easy to find simple beauty all around you. Get out there and discover it!


Always,

Kasey