from the drafting table: hello + amish white bread

this will be the first of the celebrity posts from the other half of the blog. virginia is the brains behind the thing as the natural documenter, but the other half shall make his presence know. and so we begin with a particular interest of mine, baking bread!

while i lived in rome for four months in college studying architecture money was tight. vegetables were inexpensive, so they became a mainstay, and meat a budgetary victim. the other go to item was bread. it was cheap, beefed up the mass of any meal, and was south of two euros per delicious loaf at the family bakery on my walk from piazza navona where i lived to campo d'fiori where i took classes. but a bag of flour was 60 cents and water was free! i bought two bread pans at the casalinghi (translates to "the housewife store") and, a dozen or so batches later, i've never looked back.

this was the first recipe that i tried and it is still my favorite. it gets devoured by virginias, roommates, and family alike whenever it's made, and makes a mean french toast. in the end did it really make sense to spend three hours baking two loaves of bread to save a euro? not really, but there's something satisfying about it. and it left more money for wine.

daniel's amish white bread:

2 cups warm water

2/3 cup white sugar (if you use this much it comes out really sweet, i usually cut in half)

1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

6 cups bread flour (once you know the texture the dough is supposed to have, you needn't actually measure out the flour, just keep adding until it has that proper doughy texture)

1. in a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. allow to sit until yeast resembles a creamy foam (usually about 5 minutes).
2. mix salt and oil into the yeast. mix in flour one cup at a time (if you have a sifter, sift the flour as you add, but it's not necessary). knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. place in a well oiled bowl and turn dough to coat. cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour (don't stretch this too long, but the more it rises the fluffier it will be)
3. punch dough down (it fills with carbon dioxide as the yeast eat the sugars). knead for a few minutes and divide in half. shape into loaves and place into well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. allow to rise for 30 minutes or until dough has rise 1 inch above pans.
4. bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

p.s. to the men out there, the womenfolk find a man that can bake a good loaf of bread irresistible...