Little Man Bread Snob

The preschool bus drops Declan off at 12:00pm. As we walk into the house,I ask him about his morning: who did he play with?, did he give the note to the teacher? Declan throws his Spiderman back pack on the floor in the office then tries to pull his sneakers off without untying them; the double knots I tied this morning are too difficult for him to undo.
"What do you want for lunch?"
"Uuuum. Butter sandwich." Declan says as he nods his head and smiles, trying to get me to agree.
"How about grilled cheese with ham on bread and butter?"
"No, Just bread and butter. On the bread that is shaped like this." Declan makes a circling motion around his head. What bread is shaped like that?
"I don't know what you mean. What kind of bread is that?"
"You know, mama, the kind you make!"
There you have it. Not only do I have a problem with my son's choice of sandwich. Where's the protein? Bread and butter sounds like jail food. But, he also wants this "bread and butter" on fresh home made bread, at that. I figured that any homemade bread would do. After all, the kids (my daughter, Ava is also a bit of a bread snob. Although she will eat her peanut butter and jelly on store bought whole wheat)both enjoy Val's Delicious white bread especially when toasted and coated with butter, affectionately known in my house as "butter toast". With this in mind, I made a lovely foccacia bread recipe and instead of making the usual rectangle, I shaped it into loaves. Sounds good, doesn't it? No chance. The kids will eat it as garlic toast at dinner time but not as a bread and butter sandwich after school.
The bread in question is actually easy to make but time is a huge factor. A few ingredients are merely mixed together and left to rise on their own. The problem: the first rise is at least 12 hours. Obviously this requires a bit of advance planning if I am going to serve bread and butter for lunch.
The other day I only had wheat bread from the store left in the drawer. I managed to talk Declan into eating a yummy grilled cheese and ham with lots of butter on the bread. He sat down in front of the t.v. eager to enjoy his chocolate milk, sandwich and an new fangled episode of Batman "with wings". He said "Thank you" and took a big gulp of milk, his eyes glued to the t.v. A few seconds later, from the kitchen I could hear him whine, "AAAWWWW! This isn't the bread!" I can't believe I actually had to explain to him that mommy can't always make the special bread. And when he bent his head down and began to pout, I recovered quickly before he could whine again, "But I'll try and make it tomorrow, o.k.?"

This bread recipe is supposed to be baked as a large loaf in a preheated dutch oven. It's from Jim Lahey's "My Bread". (It's definitely worth purchasing the book for all the other great recipes, too!) I have made it that way and it's quite delicious, perfect for a larger group. It also has a chewier, thicker crust. I now separate the dough into 4 small free form loaves which yields a softer crust.

Special Bread (Shaped like Declan's head)

450 grams all purpose flour (I like to weigh the flour),or about 3 1/2 cups
1/2 teaspoon yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/3-1 2/3 cups warm water

Mix flour, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. Slowly incorporate water until a dough is formed. (It will be hard to mix, don't add too much water.) The dough will be slightly dry. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave in a warm area away from drafts. Let rest for 12-18 hours. At this point, the dough should be bubbly, doubled in size and sticky. Grease a cookie sheet. Remove dough with a rubber spatula onto a generously floured board. Using spatula (or scraper) turn the dough over so that all sides are coated with flour. Do not knead!!! Cut into 4 equal pieces. Gently form each piece into a ball shape by tucking edges under and place on greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle the top of each ball with about 1 tablespoon flour. Place a towel on top and let rise again for two hours in a warm spot. (Be sure to use enough flour on top of dough so that the towel will not stick.) After two hours, preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Slash tops of loaves with a sharp knife and cook for 10-15 minutes until light brown. Remove to wire rack to cool. Share if you want to.

Rain, Rain, Go Away.....

I'm crabby. I have a sore throat. The kids are fighting and they are driving me crazy. They want to do craft projects that not only require my supervision, they are frustratingly difficult for even an adult to accomplish. The kids begin to lose patience easily and before I can vacuum up the tiny beads and throw away the celophane wrappers, they are on to the next game of hitting each other over the head with my throw pillows.
AARGH! I'm even more short tempered than usual. I'm trying not to shout and aggravate my achy throat or make my voice shatter through my stuffy head. This stupid craft- a pseudo stained glass kit with little, itty bitty beads that must be carefully placed in a metal frame, then baked in the oven at a high temperature. I can think of a lot of better things to bake in the oven rather than trying to melt toxic plastic to make a tchotchke that will inevitably end up lost in a pile of rubble along with the broken prizes from Happy Meals and birthday party favors my kids won't let me throw away.
As I open the oven to check on the plastic creations, the fumes almost knock me over. Thankfully, we don't have a parakeet. Otherwise I would have to add the explaination of the bird's death to the list of fun for the day. The smell makes me dizzy but I come to my senses and decide to brew myself a cup of my favorite ginger tea. On second thought, since I've made it past 12:00pm with two crazy kids cooped up on a rainy day, I think I'll add something special to the hot beverage to help me during the long afternoon to come.
I feel better already!

Soothing Ginger Toddy
1 cup hot brewed ginger tea
2 tablespoons Canton Ginger Liqueur
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
optional: sugar to sweeten to taste

Brew tea according to package directions. Add ginger liqueur and lemon juice. Drink up.