The Baking of Bread

The first neurologist visit has come and gone- nothing revelatory. Testing out a couple of new prescriptions, ran some more blood tests, same questions, same neurological exam. But in addition to 2 new drugs I am taking, I also have an absurd list of foods, beverages and condiments that I am not supposed to eat. I won't bore anyone with the specifics of the entire list, but there was one thing on the list that shocked me beyond reason- homemade bread! Under the recommended substitute for the category, ot actually said that I should eat commercially available bread. I have been almost exclusively baking our own bread for the last year, and have enjoying doing it. Now I have to go back to chewy mush? Absurd, I say! As part of my defense of homemade bread, I leave here my poem, The Baking of Bread. Enjoy.

The Baking of Bread

We baked our first loaf

not long after the honeymoon

in a kitchen too small

for two people

from a dough of flour and water

salt and sugar and yeast

And there was joy in the making

wonder in the simple

perfection of the work

It is work, the baking of bread

It is science and art and love

in ways that you only learn

when you put your hands to it

and decide to create something

A bland loaf,

of no discernible flavor

in white plastic

covered with primary

colored balloons

bought at 7-11

would have been so much easier

But couples cannot survive

on white bread

alone

variety is needed

so we found rye flour,

and whole wheat

and discovered that these breads

do not rise with a simple recipe

of five ingredients

Gluten, not found

in your everyday

bag of flour, is the secret

to big fluffy loaves

Molasses and beer

make better rye

Honey sweetens whole wheat

satisfying in a way

refined sugar never could

and the kitchen became

ever more cluttered

as measuring cups and canisters

competed for counter space

we did not have

There is a learning curve

involved in any craft

baking bread is no different

Knowing to check the dough ball

at the end of the second kneading

determining if it needs more

water, or more flour

testing the spring of the ball

to see if it needs

more time to rise

Knowing that the task

is not as easy as putting

the ingredients together

and leaving them to do as they will

And we will keep at it

There are butterhorns yet to make,

pumpernickel and pannetone

sourdough and cinnamon swirls

Maybe even a Santa Lucia

Crown for Christmas.