Ouch, my arms... Mmm my bread!

sariannach

I've missed two days of 30DS because my left knee is super cranky... so today I made a very traditional yeasted bread, without the advantages of any machines (short of the oven!).

If you've never done this, holy moly does it work your arms. And your shoulders. Mine are aching like crazy after slooowly mixing in whole wheat flour, wheat germ, and rye flour, and then kneading the resulting dough for 100 turns. My kitchen smells AMAZING, though! Plus I know exactly what went into this bread... no chemical weirdness, no preservatives, no HFCS... just water, flours, yeast, some local honey (yeasties gotta eat!), salt, just enough EVOO to coat while it rises, and some dried sage for extra flavor. All things I had on hand, and have no hesitation about eating.

Yes, it takes time... but during the three rises (okay, the last one's optional) I have 45min to an hour to do other stuff. Like sit on my butt watching How I Met Your Mother (no spoilers, I'm slow enough in season 1!). Good stuff.

I used the Tassajara Bread Book regular recipe. The basic info is here but I find the book's line-drawing pictures are more useful: https://consubstantialpaneity.wordpress.com/2007/03/11/tassajara-kneaded-whole-wheat-bread/