My "What About Bob?" Moment

My favorite Bill Murray movie is What About Bob? While I expect most have seen this hilarious flick, the premise is that Bob (Murray) has about every fear you can have, the most extreme of which is not having a psychiatrist to visit daily. Until he finds Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss), Bob never tried anything new, or even normal. But, when he follows the Dr. on his family vacation, he finds himself in all kinds of previously-terrifying situations. 

One of my favorite scenes in the movie (and they’re all good) is when Bob allows himself to be convinced into going sailing with Dr. Marvin’s daughter, Anna, and her friends. The scene shows him literally tied to the mast saying, “"I’m sailing! I’m sailing! I’m sailing!… I’m sailing! I’m sailing! I sail! I’m sailiiiiiing!" As he disembarks the boat, he says to Dr. Marvin, “Isn't this a breakthrough, that I'm a sailor? I sail? I sail now?”

Well...let me share my latest “sailing” experience with you...

I bake bread! I’m a bread baker! I bake bread from scratch! With yeast and flour! I’m a bread baker! BRRREEEAAADDD BAAAAKER!

When I go through my list of wifely things that I never expected to do, bread baking and sewing were (sewing still is) at the top of the list. Bread baking scared me, primarily because I felt like it was too much work and required a bread machine. However, I recently learned that making lovely loaves (pictured below) is easy, fun, and potentially nutritious. 

The book that caused the breakthrough is Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. The book is about 300 pages and reads like a bread textbook, complete with lots of recipes for whole wheat, whole grain, and gluten free breads (among other treats). The book is part of the “Artisan Revolution” and is actually the sequel to Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I went with the sequel because of its claim to produce healthy breads...I try to be semi-conscious of what I ingest. 

The method is super easy to follow and and the results are truly picturesque, not to mention delicious (also important). The secret is to make a large batch of dough on one day, without kneading, and store it in the fridge for up to two weeks. Pull off a hunk, let it rest, and presto! You’re ready to bake homemade, healthy bread that looks like it came from a bakery! You wouldn’t believe all the corners you can cut in the bread process, and still end up with great bread! You don’t have to proof the yeast, knead or punch the dough, or poke a rising loaf. Could it get any easier?

I’ve only tried the master recipe so far, but there are sooo many others in the book that sound amazing. I really hope you’ll check out the book, or at least the website, and see for yourself just how easy this stuff is and be able to say along with me...

“I bake bread!” :)