In Praise of Homemade Bread

When we came back from China last March I was astounded by how much food prices had jumped. We had seen a similar rise in prices in Hohhot, but we were told it was more a phenomenon of New Year's price hikes than anything more global. Once we returned home, though, I could see that the situation was more serious than holiday price gouging.

And this is what finally pushed me to make bread weekly for my family. I'd already been disgusted with bread offerings at the grocery store and equally repulsed at the thought of paying $5 a loaf for "good" bread; seeing the price jump on even "adequate" bread broke the proverbial camel's back. Armed with a wonderful recipe from a friend, which makes 3 loaves at a time--a great time-saver--I started baking bread once a week. I haven't turned back.

This is my bread dough, ready to be punched down and separated
into three loaves.

And here is the finished product.

I honestly don't know what happened this week, but my loaves practically jumped out of the pans--they are HUGE. I guess the yeast really liked the steel-cut oats this time.

Making bread takes all day but the effort involved is actually so minimal. And there is nothing more satisfying than eating bread made from simple ingredients, bread which has never seen the inside of a plastic bag, much less the glare of a grocery store.