Bread

I used to bake bread a lot. But ultimately life caught up with me and I found I didn't have the time to set it up or punch it down and shape it and wait for it to rise again. Life is fast and while we can try to slow it down I prefer to find solutions that fit into it right now. I want bread but I don't have the time to add it to our schedule. Fortunately I came across a post on Lifehacker (http://lifehacker.com/5491922/enjoy-fresh-bread-with-one-minute-of-prep) which referred to an article on Lifehack (http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/kitchen-hack-one-minute-ciabatta-bread.html). I'll summarize here and if you can go looking for more information if you'd like (Youtube for example).

You'll need:

2C Water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon yeast (dry)*
4C flour

Add ingredients into a bowl, mix. The mixture will be a bit sticky. Clean off your spoon and cover. Let sit for 12-24 hours*. Then heat the oven to 400 degrees. Scrap the dough out of the bowl into a loaf pan if you want a loaf or onto a baking stone or cookie sheet if you just want a blob of bread (its called artisan when its a blob :). Bake for 30-35 minutes.

(*)Why the discrepancy? It depends on your home. In the winter our house is pretty cold (not a fan of paying for oil). It hovers around 50-52 degrees and so in that case I was microwaving the 2C of water for 30 seconds and it took a full 24 hours to rise. But as spring has come I'm letting it sit for much less time. Also if you use 1/2 teaspoon of yeast it'll rise much faster. I made some dough today around 730am and it was baked off around 1pm and it was fine. That used 1/2 teaspoon of yeast. So I think I'm going to drop back to a 1/4 teaspoon so I can stretch the time out until the afternoon (as I'm generally gone in the day time)

There are many variations on this recipe, but appreciate its simplicity. This is something you can throw together while you're coffee's brewing or you're making toast. We use this bread exclusively now in our home. Sandwiches, french toast, toast, etc. It saves money and the ingredient list is impressively short.