Miss Kitty Bakes: Our own bread

There are few smells that truly kill me: fresh roses, the garden after rain, vanilla, coconut and the smell of fresh bread baking. I could never work in a bakery - other than the 3am starts (which we have established really do not work for me with recent teething shenanigans), I would eat far too much bread. Certainly far more than is good for me.

One of the advantages of being a stay at home mum is that you can do a lot more baking from scratch. Well, in this case, baking bread from a box. I will not lie, my fear of yeast has meant I started slowly with bread mixes but I am gradually working my way up to starting my own sourdough starter. Maybe next week...

The advantage of baking your own bread is that you know exactly what goes into it. No preservatives, no nasties. Better for kids. Better for you. It's a couple of minutes of activity interspersed with some solid waiting, during which time you get on with other stuff, like the hundreds of loads of washing I seem to always have piled up... And at the end of it all, you have this amazing thing, scenting your kitchen with wholesome yeasty goodness. All for the sum total of $2 for the ingredients, if you are lazy like me and buy the mix. Even less if you make it properly from scratch. Around here, an artisinal loaf sets you back $8 on a good day. So not only is it better for you and gives you a sense of achievement and accomplishment, you are actually being thrifty at the same time. Winner winner!

It really isn't hard, you just follow the instructions on the box. They are fairly precise and if I can make decent bread in my awful old oven then I reckon anyone could do it. Certainly worth a shot. And imagine how your kitchen would smell with that wonderful scent emanating from it...

Have I convinced you to start baking your own bread yet?

Kitty

PS: Before anyone asks, I have been using Laucke mixes. You can get them pretty much everywhere. Our favourite is the Soy and Linseed pictured above.