The Great Dough Experiment of Twenty-Twelve

this is probably the oddest of my kicks so far...especially considering that i still hope to lose 10 more pounds...this is probably not the wisest idea i ever had...but i decided during the holidays that i want to make a conscious effort to learn the art of bread making this year. 

Bodie just making pasta naked...totally normal...

i started with my mom's recipe and have made it about 3 times so far. i wanted to try a bunch of different recipes and figure out the different methods and ingredients and what difference it all makes, so then i moved on to Jamie Oliver's basic bread recipe...(i like my mom's better). i also made PW cinnamon rolls, and the Best Recipe Cook Book's pizza dough...holy schmoly...the best pizza dough ever! can i just gush about this pizza dough for a minute? so perfectly chewey and soft and fluffy and...oh dear...i might be drooling right now just thinking about it...so i guess i am saying if you were thinking about trying it out - do it! one recipe made plenty for my family - we had a bunch leftover, which happily went into lunches the next day. 

Fettucini drying

If you have any great bread recipes you would like to share -bring it! i am trying to make some sort of dough at least once a week..i mean once a month...i should say once a month, that way if i do more then...winning!

also - for Christmas my husband gave me a pasta maker and the pasta making has commenced! with great success i may add! it is quite labor intensive, but what a difference fresh pasta is! absolutely all worth it! 

i am not that far into my little experiment, but already i am starting to realize some very important things about cooking and family and preserving memories. i learned somewhere along the way that the olfactory nerve is the shortest nerve to the brain, hence the sense of smell triggers memories strongest. when i worked at an Alzheimer facility after High School part of my job was to bake bread in the bread machine twice a day - the purpose being aromatherapy. Hoping that just by smelling the bread baking would trigger memories (hopefully fond ones) for the residents. 

Handmade Tortellini - isn't it beautiful?

I thought about my own home growing up and smelling that smell when my mom would bake bread...and how many countless times i saw her kneading the bread and rolling it out...and what fond memories they are...so in a sense i think i am trying to create that home for my boys as well. a home full of yummy smells...so that when they are all grown up and out of the house, i will be with them with the simple whiff of baking bread. its a comforting thought...but also makes me feel a little manipulative...its all part of my evil sensory plan...mwa hahahaha!

but really...this is how we pass down our cultural ideas and values the easiest way - through food. with my husband's family being mixed and my family having their ways, food is one easy tangible way to share with our kids their heritage and values even. we had his Italian mom help us fill raviolis on our dining room table...i know it was a special time for Bryan and i love that we have pics like the first and last ones to show our kids they participated in this process. its showing them the value of doing it yourself, the value of more than one person in the kitchen, the value of taking time to do it. plus its just fun to play with your food! can you see the joy on bodie's face? 

its a journey anyway...and i think to get really good at anything you got to do it A LOT...and fail A LOT...and then try something else...and then go back to square one...anyway - you get it - its a process and i am excited about this one...and i know my boys are too - how awesome is fresh baked bread with a healthy slab of butter on it? pretty awesome...now off to find a bread diet weight loss plan ;)