I wanted to start off the year baking bread. I wanted to delve my hands into something fresh, warm, alive and uplifting. I wanted to smell the promise as the yeast multiplied, the dough expanded and the loaves baked in the oven.
So, on the first day of the year, I bounce out of bed at an early hour, which is my habit, and assemble my ingredients, each with its own story.
The organic whole wheat flour is Hard Red Spring Wheat, stone ground in small batches at the Wild Hive Farm Micro Mill in the Hudson Valley. Wild Hive Farm is working to encourage the production of local grains in upstate New York.
The honey is from Restoration Farm, gathered from the bees that pollinate the raspberry and blackberry bushes.
For just a few minutes, the dough is rough and shaggy, but then, it comes together into a smooth, glossy ball.
The dough is divided into two loaves. The freshness of a new year should be shared.
The hot, golden loaves fill the house with a nutty aroma. They are a small miracle for the New Year, at a time when miracles may seem in short supply.
I keep one loaf, and give one loaf to my Mom and Dad as the first gift of 2012. Nobody deserves the promise and vitality of warm, uplifting bread more than they do.
©2012 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved
16 comments:
This is an excellent way to start the year, showing gratitude to the ones you loved and have loved you back, and creating something with ingredients that are so personal and meaningful to you. Happy new year TW!
An excellent way to start the new year TW. I bet your house smelled divine.
Sam
I can almost smell the aroma of this bread now. These loaves are perfect!
This is so inspiring. I really need to invest time in making bread - there isn't anything like it!
A fitting tribute. Made with love for those you love.
The bread looks so good! I miss making homemade bread. I used to make it years ago, this just might inspire me to make some! I used to grind my own wheat, nothing better than that. Thanks, and Happy New Year to you!
I don't know if there is anything better than the smell of fresh bread in a house. It's sort of a second gift from baking... you get to eat the bread and smell the smell in your kitchen. Love that you have the relationship with all the ingredients. That is as it should be. Perfect bread, btw, gorgeous recipe that reminds me of my mum's bread with milk and honey.
I missed the chance to wish you a Happy Birthday. Best belated wishes! I'm always on the hunt for a good honey wheat bread recipe. What a great way to start the New Year! I need to step up my own bread baking, and this looks like a recipe worth trying.
Does it get any better than that? I think not! Wake-up and bake bread...Amazing. Its beautiful.
Velva
What a beautiful way to start the year.
What a lovely way to begin the New Year. The bread looks wonderful and it is hard to beat the flavor of a good honey wheat bread. I'm sure your parents appreciated it. Have a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary
Your bread look amazing Thomas, absolutely delicious!!
Beautiful! I'm getting a bit better at baking bread and find that I'm enjoying it more. I bet that honey is exquisite!
You are becoming a pro with yeast breads, TW! This is a gorgeous loaf and I bet your parents loved receiving this homemade gift from you. I have been dreaming of a grain bread this week....January is the perfect month for baking bread.
Dear T.W., Welcome back!! I just love the way you started the New Year. A hot loaf of bread baking in the oven. What could be better!? I know! butter on that hot loaf of bread! I am sure that your Mom and Dad were delighted this delicious gift of love. Cheers from this part of the Island! Catherine
There is something eternally comforting about baking bread as you've so deliciously proven. And your line about your mom and dad -- Nobody deserves the promise and vitality of warm, uplifting bread more than they do -- just warms my heart.
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