Lets Break Bread

We all have talents that we want to share with our friends, family, and maybe the world. Well, I am here to take you on a journey that has taken years to make me see what I can truly have in life. Not everyone may agree with me as I explain and show my journey. Not only will I be showing what I have learned but I will attempt to answer questions that many may have.

Last year I had my eyes open to a huge battle, to new beginnings and what true happiness could really be. I am not here to preach to hungry hearts but to show what it means to be full and satisfied with what I have discovered. Let’s take a trip back to 2022. Are you ready? …Let’s go!!!!

It was the dead of summer, and I was living in NY with my daughter. We were out and about taking in the city. She started acting like a normal 2-year-old screaming and crying just throwing an all-out tantrum. She and I were sitting on a bench outside a store and as I was trying to comfort her, she kicked me causing herself to fall. Now you’re wondering why this is important. Well, I am getting to that. She falls and after many bystanders are watching and telling me that I pushed my daughter to the ground. This is the point when things explode or finally hit rock bottom. I am then taken by an officer and locked up while my daughter is placed into the system all due to false pretenses. Now I am in a battle with the Judicial and Foster Care system. The good news about this battle ended with my daughter coming back to me after seven months of court appearances, doctor appointments, and supervised visits.

Now we can jump forward to around this time last year. I was kicked out of my parent’s house living out of hotels and trying to make ends meet just to find a place to call home. Placing an ad on Craigslist to try and find some kind of help. Then one day I received an email from someone willing to help as well as open his door to my daughter (she was not with me during this time). This man was willing to show compassion to someone in need by following the bible. There is a verse from the book of Philippians 2:3-4, which urges us to value others above ourselves and look to their interests, not just our own. Now I have moved in with him. He has shown me that in Christ all things are possible. Not only has he been able to show me this but also the people of our church. After two months of living with this man I was able to get my daughter back from Foster Care and before that, I was able to battle my depression and anxiety.
 
Now we move into the next part of our journey. Over the past summer, I have become part of a church family, by volunteering for Vacation bible school, joined a bible study, and have made amazing friends along the way. Fast forwarding to what makes this a beadmaker's journey. Over Christmas I was gifted a book by Abigail Dodd entitled Bread of Life. The book goes through a series of bread recipes starting with a simple beginner’s recipe and escalating to a more difficult recipe. We as Christians know that bread is key to how Jesus did most if not all his teachings as well as the most important the Last Supper.
 
…Jesus took some bread thanked God for it and broke it. Then gave it to his followers and said, “Take this bread and eat it; this is my body.” -Matthew 26:26
 
He took five loaves of bread and two fishes and looking to heaven, he blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples and the disciples gave to the multitudes. – Matthew 19
 
These are just a few examples that show what Jesus did with bread but more importantly, we all have a hunger that only he can satisfy. Breaking bread with our friends, family, brothers, sisters, spouses, and churchgoers can bring us a sense of togetherness and closeness to Jesus.
 
Artisan Bread for beginners

Ingredients:
 6 ½ cups AP (all-purpose flour)
 1 Tsp instant yeast
 1 Tbs salt
 3 cups water

Directions:
    Night before:
1.      Whisk flour, salt, and yeast to combine.
2.      Add water and mix until dough is formed it may look shaggy.
3.      Cover the bowl and let stand for 12-18 hours (overnight)
    Day of baking:
 Put your Dutch oven or cast-iron pot with the lid in the oven at preheat to 500 degrees. 
  Turn the dough out onto a floured counter; divide with a bench scrapper or knife. Shape each into a round loaf (the dough is sticky so make sure your hands are floured and simply fold the dough onto itself as best you can don’t worry if it looks messy)
Transfer loaves to heavily floured parchment paper
 Let the loaves sit until the oven is fully preheated.
Pick up the parchment paper with the dough on it and place it in the Dutch oven. Cover it with the lid.
Turn oven down to 450 degrees and bake for 30 mins.
Remove the lid and continue to bake for 15 mins.
Remove the bread from the pot and cool it on a cooling rack.

 This is the original recipe. Just like at the beginning of this story, I have had my share of issues in attempting to make this work. The first time making this I followed the recipe and directions exactly.  The only problem was that I did not have a Dutch oven. So, naturally, the bread did not turn out the way I would have hoped. There are some minor flaws in this recipe that I have stumbled across. I am not saying that this is a bad recipe the bread is amazing. There just needs to be some clarifications on some steps, that’s where I come in. I am here to clarify.

I will tell you that being new to bread making I had no clue that you had to proof the yeast. This is done through using a ¼ cup of water per teaspoon of yeast. The water, however, needs to be warm (between 100-110 degrees). I find that proofing instant yeast gives it a head start when you add it to your dough. If using instant yeast, you don’t need to proof but if using active dry yeast make sure you proof it. This can be a bit tricky.  
Various types of flour can really make a difference in this kind of bread. I have tried AP (all-purpose} flour and I have tried bread flour. I have found that using bread flour makes a huge difference in how the bread turns out. I believe that the yeast activates more with the bread flour but both kinds of flour work well.

This is getting into the second time I made this bread I still did not have a Dutch oven and was skeptical about leaving the dough out overnight. I tried fast-forwarding the process by placing the dough in the proofer in my oven. This process took roughly 2.5 hours. I will tell you though that I did not make a full recipe to make two loaves. This second time I made it was only half a batch. This speed-up version was good but did not have the crust that should develop when baking.

Keep fast-forwarding. I was able to find a pot to make the bread in. I have made this bread twice with it and the bread turned out perfect. There are some things to still try to tweak my take on this recipe. But here is my take on how to make a super simple loaf of bread that can help feed the hunger. That hunger could be our physical hunger but most importantly our spiritual hunger.  
 
Artisan Bread for beginners
 Ingredients:
 6 ½ cups AP (all-purpose flour)
 1 Tsp instant yeast
 1 Tbs salt
 3 cups water (warm water)
 Directions:
     Night before:

 Proof yeast in either a small measuring cup or small bowl (1/4 cup warm water (100- 110
degrees) and 1 tsp yeast)

    Whisk flour, salt, and yeast to combine.
  Add warm water and mix until dough is formed. It may look shaggy.
    Cover the bowl and let stand for 12-18 hours (overnight) in the microwave.
     Day of baking:
 Put your Dutch oven or cast-iron pot with the lid in the oven at preheat to 500 degrees.
 Turn the dough out onto a floured counter; divide with a bench scrapper or knife. Shape each into a round loaf (the dough is sticky so make sure your hands are floured and simply fold the dough onto itself as best you can don’t worry if it looks messy)
 Transfer loaves to heavily floured parchment paper
  Let the loaves sit until the oven is fully preheated.
 Pick up the parchment paper with the dough on it and place it in the Dutch oven. Cover it with the lid.
Turn oven down to 450 degrees and bake for 30 mins.
Remove the lid and continue to bake for 15 mins.
Remove the bread from the pot and cool it on a cooling rack.

 Just a little side note. In making the dough last night I tried something a bit different with the yeast. In doing some research I found that there is a chemical reaction between yeast and flour turning the gluten that is in flour into sugar. So, in proofing the yeast I maintained my teaspoon of yeast, but I added a ½ tsp of sugar to it to help it bloom. I noticed that my first loaf of bread that was baked off did not dome as much as the previous loaves. There was, however, a firmer crust and a lighter, airier bread, unlike the others that were a little denser. This is because the sugar and the yeast created more air bubbles while rising.

If you want to get your loaves looking as if it came from a bakery. You know how some freshly baked breads have designs on them. You can use a clean razor blade to draw lines or x’s along the top of the dough before baking.

Be sure that you fulfill that hunger with a fresh slice of your homemade bread with some butter, or some preserves along with a HOT cup of COFFEE. All while feeling part of God’s table. ☕🍞🍵