Baking bread

Oops - it's been a while since I my last post. Time just seems to fly by just now! After reading yet another article about the evils of shop-bought bread I decided to have a go at making it myself. I hoped I might have baker's genes as my Mum often used to win prizes for her bread in a local village fair she used to enter (1st prize for her cottage loaf!) So out with the bread plate (which I bought from the lovely Julie at the Cloth Shed).

And with the help fo my trusty KitchenAid mixer for the kneading of the dough, it was into the bread tin, 2 hours to rise and into the oven.

This was my first attempt, I glazed it with egg and milk as per the recipe which gave it a pastry-like shine! For my next loaf I decided to try the same recipe but to try knocking it back and allowing it to rise a second time. I used just plain milk on top of the dough to get a nice brown colour without the sheen!

This loaf has risen a bit more and was fluffier inside, but the taste was still a bit bland (I used the Hovis Granary bread mix) so I'm still on the hunt for the perfect loaf!

We've also been making a few more home improvements to our cottage. There was a funny alcove space under the stairs which we couldn't really use for anything. Instead of leaving it as dead space we decided to get shelves made and fixed into the area so that we could use it as a book shelf - storage space is always as issue in a cottage! Here is the result:

 We've still got a few more things to put on them and maybe a bit more aesthetic tweaking to do but they add a nice bit of interest to an otherwise empty space.

And they are very handy for displaying my collection of old books!

I've also been spending a lot of time in the garden; clearing up leaves, weeding and finally getting round to training the rather wild climbing rose up against the garden wall. I forgot to take photos of this but here are some photos of some beautiful tulips I bought to remind me that spring is around the corner!