But I live here in so tiny a village that has no shop or bakery, and the only inn has closed. To buy bread I have to drive 3 km - that's not far, and if I want to "schlepp" a rucksack full of potatoes, milk and other goodies up the hill to "my" house - over 9% steep hill upwards - of course I could walk. The little red train stops once an hour - which means waiting in the next little town after buying, and more than 9 % uphill fitness training too. (The reason why I a bought a used car).
But I try to reduce shopping - and the need of fresh bread sometimes was the only reason I had to go.
Yesterday I was happy that I could bake my first bread: we were snowed under, AND Bavaria warned explicitly against leaving the house because of black ice (is that really the right word???).
Here you see my prototype: a spelt loaf, delicious - and I wish you could smell the lovely scent in the kitchen!
Oh I can smell it from here :)
ReplyDeleteIn fact the taste of warm, home made bread is delicious, but the smell is what fills the house and draws in the family from outside.
Dear Helen - the smell of fresh bread or cake might be used as a picture for "home". I still remember my grandmother who was an expert for creating leavened cake: sprinkled with sugar and butter; or covered with plums or apples - and always it were huge baking trays - her family was large, and she still had a coal cooking stove!
DeleteI have often wanted a bread maker. Yes, 'black ice' is the right word/s.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the vocabulary help. Till now I am happy with the bread maker - and am looking forward to experiment.
DeleteThere is nothing better than your own homemade bread - well done Britta - enjoy.
ReplyDeleteThe term 'black ice' is used here to warn motorists that the roads are icy and dangerous. Black ice cannot be seen when driving along black tarmac roads. My sat nav will suddenly give me a warning when driving - RISK OF BLACK ICE.
Thank you Rosemary - I am always very interested in the "why" of words, etymology often is a surprise.
DeleteWhen I read "black ice" I thought it might be an oxymoron (as in Paul Celan's "Deathfugue": "Black milk of early morning") - now I see that it has a real basis.
Beware of black ice at this time of the year!
There's nothing better than home baked bread! I usually make my own, no machine though, and it's great to know exactly what you're eating because you put it there. The smell, too!
ReplyDeleteDear Boud, that is one reason I like too: to know what is inside my bread.
DeleteI thought about doing it by myself without a machine - but at the moment I am so occupied that I thought again, and of my newly learned "Rule 1": "Do it now, perfect it later". The triplets enjoyed the bread very much.
I shall take on your Rule 1 for myself, dear Britta. It's the best and simplest advice I've heard in ages!
DeleteSame thoughts, Pip, when I read it - and I practice it now often.
DeleteWe found that it takes a while before working out what we liked best.
ReplyDeleteThe bread maker came with very little advice - I was happy that the internet offered many recipes, and even the first one worked out well.
DeleteBlack ice apparently is a recognized menace all over the world. And bread from the oven is a recognized delicacy.
ReplyDeleteWe call it "Blitz-Eis" - because it comes so unexpected. At the moment I am happy that I don't have to go/drive to a store.
DeleteMy 12-year-old grandson has been baking bread for several months with just such a device, it turns out wonderful. It came with a recipe book and that's how he learned.
ReplyDeleteThat's a bright idea! I know that the triplets love to mix dough, so maybe I will ask them in two years or so. .
DeleteTwo of my sons have bread makers and really enjoy the homemade bread.
ReplyDeleteDear Emma, they will have told you that they are content? I still have to find out how to get the loaf easily out of the baking form, but am sure that it will work better in time.
DeleteOh, I did love to bake my own bread before I went carb-free. Probably 3 times a week, for the bread produced was simply delicious :) so go forth and explore the delights of homemade bread, dear Britta!
ReplyDeleteThe breadmaker seems a common introduction for many home bakers and I saw my first and only at a girlfriend's place in the country, miles from a shoppe, and it worked a treat excepting for it being such a pain to wash up. When I finally got around to it - a lockdown project - I did the no-knead overnight loaf cooked in a Dutch oven and it was foolproof but, best of all, a snip when it came to washing up. I showed my husband how to make it and he mastered it in a couple of goes, so the triplets will be a cinch to teach!
Wow - carb-free diet: does it mean no grains, less fruits, and more protein? I try to balance that too - though I do not eliminate my porridge, and eat 2 slices of bread a day - but try to eat more protein - that is so important!
DeleteMiles from a shoppe - that's what I share in Bavaria with your friend (in Berlin I need blinders not to be lured into the land of milk and honey :-)
Your recipe for making bread in a Dutch oven (had to look that device up) would be very welcome here: the triplets are in an age where they enjoy to cut fruit salad, garnish a pizza or mix cookie dough (not at the moment - for more than one month after Christmas their parents don't allow sweets or cake - though fruit salat is ok, and they accept with grace)