Loafing Around

My dad's boss, Mr. Pyers, loves to bake bread. Around Christmas I had a chance to talk with him about this art. He gave me lots of tips and shared with me how you make bread that is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. A few weeks after our conversation he sent me this clay baker, the secret to baking my favorite kind of bread. So Josh and I promptly set out to use our new toy. Two days later this is the yummy loaf we ended up with. There were several bumps along the road but in the end it was worth it. This stuff turned out awesome! Our first dilemma was the beer the recipe called for. Being Mormon we don't really have beer on hand. Second, our house was so cold the bread wouldn't rise so after fermenting for 18 hours it took 3 or 4 more to get it to poof up enough. It was an interesting experience. I will end by saying I am so thankful I was not born in a time without bread makers or other modern appliances for that matter!