Friday, March 12, 2010

12/31 Bread


Lately I've been frustrated at the shocking, unhealthful ingredients in affordable bread and the high price of good bread. While I realize that paying more for real food is in line with my priorities and while I realize that better health means money not spent on medical bills, still, I am frugal.

So I made my own bread yesterday. Honey Wheat with no sugar, mostly whole wheat, no powdered milk, no soy, no unpronounceable ingredients.

The kneading worked my muscles.

The aroma invigorated my senses.

The sight made me smile because I knew my family, upon returning from work and school, would sigh and grin just as they did.

 Beautiful, beautiful loaves!

How we each enjoyed a thick slice with the vegetable beef stew I'd simmered on the stove!
Our culture has denigrated cooking for centuries, first belittling it as 'women's work' and then, later, as a trivial inconvenience to be avoided as much as possible through technology. But actually, cooking is not a lowly, but a high, venerable, and sacred activity. ~~ Charles Eisenstein
My time in the kitchen felt like a sacred activity as I pondered the origin and purpose of my ingredients some of which I've grown in my own garden. The expending of effort on behalf of my life and the lives of loved ones who abide with me in this safe haven was pure love working for our pleasure and benefit.

Creation. Excitement. Satisfaction.
To live rightly in the time allotted is a matter of paramount importance, and life a sacred journey. ~~ Charles Eisenstein
Yes. Yes it is.

5 comments:

joysong said...

I am so with you! I love the healthy breads, my favorite being Great Harvest, but at $6+ a loaf...cough, cough, cough....
Funny thing is, Bruce just mentioned last night about one of his employees who makes a loaf of bread everyday...in a bread machine...and it's healthy! He then said to me, "maybe I should make my own too." Go for it honey! :o)

Cherie said...

Shyra, Joe makes his own bread in a bread machine. He's even learned how to substitute real milk for the bad-for-you powdered milk so that all the ingredients are healthy. If Joe can do it, so can Bruce. I will probably get a machine one of these days. For now I AM the machine. :D

cecily said...

yum, yum, yum Cherie!

I really don't like supermarket bread, but I cook my bread using a sourdough starter and it takes so long and requires organisation, so a lot of the time we either don't have bread, or occasionally I buy a nasty loaf. I pulled my started out the other day and I am trying to nurse it back to life at the moment, so hopefully soon I'll have some real, delicious loaves like these filling my house with beautiful smells too!

tshsmom said...

I LOVE my bread machine cuz I HATE kneading! Plus, there's not as many dirty dishes.

I quit making bread when I started homeschooling...time constraints and Z wouldn't eat homemade bread.(We had a few food issues with him and his OCD.) Last year the high cost of bread started me baking all our bread and buns again. Now Z is learning the process too.

Cherie said...

Cecily - I know. Supermarket bread is quite boring and non-breadlike. I hope your starter awakens from its summer hibernation and you have great aromas soon!

Tshs: Happy to hear that Z is learning the ropes. It will serve him well all his life. When my kids were little they only liked homemade bread warm with butter soon after it came out of the oven. Preferred the spongy store bought stuff for sandwiches. Their tastes have finally changed - for the better!