I usually buy most of our milk at the corner store. It's more expensive that way, but I think it saves money in the long run because we don't pick up other extras (unless you count the cider and donuts, chocolate bars...). When you buy a gallon of milk, you can get a loaf of their bread for $0.40. Now, this bread is not high quality at all, but I figure it makes toast or sandwich bread when I don't have any quality bread or home-made rolls. The other morning, I decided to use one of these loaves to make french toast. I pulled a stack out of the bag and placed it on the stove-top near my bowl of egg & milk mixture. I could make three slices at a time in my frying pan. By the time three had cooked, the top slice on my pile was already drying out!
About a day later, I sliced up a loaf of home-made bread. I gave a piece to Brigham as a mid-morning snack. About an hour later, we went for a walk. Brigham had left most of this piece of bread on the table. By the time we got back, about an hour and a half later, I figured his bread would be dried out. I was surprised to find that the bread was as moist as when I got it out of the bag.
My favorite bread baking book is The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book. It was introduced to me about eleven years ago by a friend. I love the methods uses for whole grain bread baking and the recipes are wonderful! I'll be using it more often!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Store-bought vs. Home-made
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That looks like a good book. Have you started using your new wheat grinder? (I know it isn't that new anymore) I finally got over the dread of using it for the first time and love it. I still haven't gotten in a regular habit of making my own whole wheat bread though and want to. Do you have a favorite recipe or any tips on making bread? Maybe I should just read the book.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite bread book is The Bread Bakers Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. It really is the best one out there right now. It is a year or two old now, but he has great techniques that I have found work in my own kitchen!
ReplyDeleteI have a great wheat bread recipe that is super easy. It only takes a couple of hours from start to finish to make. ~H
This reminds me of when I was homeschooling Exacto, and we were studying the mummies of ancient Egypt. We did an experiment to illustrate how embalming helped preserve the mummies. We used white Wal-mart bread, leaving one slice totally untouched, and the other received anti-biotic ointment to preserve it. The idea was to watch how mold would begin first on the untouched bread.
ReplyDeleteA MONTH LATER. . . ahem. Neither slice had any mold! Ya gotta love those preservative-packed storebought foods. Makes me wonder what it does to my insides!
We've never tried it with homemade bread--I can't stand to see any of it go to waste! :)