Anyone who has tried to make bread at home knows there are three essential ingredients:

1. 1.  some combination of flour, water, salt, and *live* (as opposed to dead in the cupboard 3 year old) yeast
2. 2.  a very very very hot oven
3. 3.  a patient baker

Anyone who knows me, knows I am sorely lacking one item here, which is partly why I rarely make bread at home.  With so many excellent bread bakeries in and around Boston – think Clear Flour, Hi Rise, Fornax, even Iggy’s – it’s not only hard to get motivated, but also hard to replicate quality loves at home.

Nevertheless, approximately once a year, usually when I find myself wrapped in wool and spending an afternoon at home, I get the itch to fill my kitchen with the glorious smell of freshly baked bread and pretend I live on an idyllic goat farm somewhere in Southern France.  Don’t ask.  No idea how I came to equate goat farming with bread baking, but it’s where my mind goes. Continue reading →