Bacheldre Watermill Braided Bread

Having baked hundreds of loaves in the past, you’d think I’d be a confident bread baker by now – but I still feel insecure without instruction. So, on to the computer I went, looking for that perfect recipe for a nice challah loaf. . .But page after page and I couldn’t find any that seemed quite right (too much of this, not enough of that, unappealing picture, vague descriptions. .). So, in the end, I felt it must be the time to bake without a recipe. Once I started, my hands seemed to remember what to do – which ingredients to combine first, when to add what, how long to wait. The dough kneaded smoothly, and I returned two hours later (after wandering nearby fields and talking to uninterested sheep) to find it had expanded like the throat of a giant bullfrog. On with the punching, rolling, braiding, shaping, and into the hot oven. . . . . .Not so bad in the end. . .(I have learned to trust my hands for the next time!)

arugula from america