Needing the bread is the only phrase to describe the warmth and pleasure of a fresh-baked loaf. I literally cannot go more than a few days without filling the kitchen with the aroma of it baking in the oven. Perhaps it dates back to when my mom started baking bread. She didn’t make the dough from scratch, but almost every time we went back home for a visit, she had frozen dough thawed and rising. Once we arrived, she baked it off and let us break into it while it was still steaming hot.
Sourdough won over our hearts in 2020, and now I can’t stop making it! It is a marvel that three simple ingredients (flour, water, and salt) can yield so much complex, beautiful flavor. Thankfully, Mark shares my love affair with every kind of bread that I explore. Whenever there is a loaf baking, he floats into the kitchen like a mouse to cheese. I love it when he invariably exclaims, “That smells SO GOOD!”
And then all those loaves give up extra goodness in their second life. We are addicted to transforming the leftovers into crunchy croutons, syrup-covered French toast, and Melba toast. There are just so many possibilities! Yes… needing the bread is core to who we are!
NEEDING THE BREAD

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That’s my mom, making bread at our house in 2009.