Sour Dough

Did Ryan ever receive that rolling pin you heard about back in November? Ah, curious one, read on to hear the tale.

The thing about making bread and Ryan "earning" the new rolling pin is that he really took the challenge head-on. He didn't just make wimpy REAL bread, he went for the jugular and decided to make sour dough bread. This takes not just hours ... But DAYS.

Ryan made a sour dough starter and it sat on the table for 5 days. This is a long time for something to sit in an unrefrigerated environment. But, this is what it takes to make sour dough bread. One has to make great sacrifices.

By the 5th day, our apartment was starting to smell more like a micro-brew pub than an actual home. Thank goodness it was time to make the bread.

Ryan was taking this bread project very seriously. Here is the "workstation" where bread was kneaded, and rolled (with the unwanted rolling pin I just bought - it's the forlorn object in black):
Here is the bread being measured for length:
And here is Ryan lovingly covering the loaves after sprinkling them with annoying little seeds:
And, now, it is ready for the oven:

So, these two loaves of sour dough bread baked in the oven. And wouldn't you know, they had a mind of their own? One of them was so animated that it rolled itself over and began to unroll! Well Ryan ripped that portion of the loaf right off and we used it as our first sample.

The real test though was serving the bread to someone...someone with a discriminating palette. Someone like two bachelors from the Harvard Law School and our friend Mary Frances. The bit about a "discriminating palette" is a stretch. Let's just say that we broke bread with our friends (Jon, Saul, Mary Frances) and had a really good evening. Here's the proof:


Here you can see Jon "Propriety" Scruggs, who owns a seersucker suit. Apparently seer sucker is a requirement to be a Southern Gentleman. And apparently he didn't feel like much of a Southern Gentleman because he didn't wear the seersucker suit to dinner AND he argued with a lady! Does somebody have his Mama's telephone number?

In the string of photos below you can see the great "bread debate" which ensued during our meal. It went something like this....

Mary Frances: This is by far the best bread I have ever eaten.

Jon: Nay, I protest, it cannot be the best. Let me concentrate to determine where one could possibly find the very best bread. I have to close my eyes and think.

Mary Frances: Jon, I'm a Southerner too, I know that there is nothing better than Southern bread, or Southern anything for that matter. I am from Chattanooga, "The NEW New York." But truly I do not jest, this bread is the best.

Jon: The best? This bread is the best? I shall put it to the test. Now wait, I must close my eyes again to think about how to put the best bread to the test. I can feel the answer beating in my chest.
Mary Frances: Jon Propriety Scruggs, stop this nonsense!There is just one test for the best bread to become manifest.

Saul: What's wrong with you two and why are you rhyming? Furthermore, why are you giving her such a hard time Jon Propriety Scruggs?

Jon: Saul, we rhyme because we can. Now, tell me Mary Frances, explain this test for indeed it is my quest to know if this bread has the zest.
Liz: This conversation is tense. Pass the salad please!

And so that is how it went - debates all through the night until we finally had some ice cream.

The bread was consumed and we all had fun. And then there was a crack in our hopes and dreams which came via a phone call a few days later.

It was my Mother, and she made a VERY good point. "Why," she asked, "is he earning a rolling pin by BAKING BREAD?" At first this seemed like a very silly question and I answered with something glib about how some bread requires the use of a rolling pin, like, um, er, the sour dough bread. After all, he did roll out the dough and then re-roll it into loaves.

But deep down, I knew she was right. This bread-baking business was not the key to earning the new rolling pin.

Very gently I suggested to Ryan that perhaps baking bread was not the best way to become skilled enough to warrant a $30+ dollar rolling pin. He agreed there were excellent points in my Mother's argument. But how on EARTH would he find a way to earn the rolling pin?

The answer came just the other night when good friends Raychel & Tracy brought us a little treat. A kit for making a Gingerbread House!

And, lo and behold...it requires the use of a rolling pin!

Let the dough rolling begin!