{"id":18091,"date":"2019-02-01T01:10:41","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T06:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=20498"},"modified":"2019-02-02T22:52:37","modified_gmt":"2019-02-03T03:52:37","slug":"the-kitchen-witch-38","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2019\/02\/01\/the-kitchen-witch-38\/","title":{"rendered":"The Kitchen Witch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Baking\nBasic Bread<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nabsolutely adore baking bread. To me, there is nothing more magical\nthan the mixing of yeast and water and flour and sugar and salt to\nmake a loaf of something nourishing and nutritious. If you have only\nhad \u201cWonder Bread\u201d-type bread, then you don\u2019t know how fabulous\nreal bread can be. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\tI\nusually invoke Isis before I start a batch of bread. To me, Isis is\nthe preeminent goddess of bread. According to Patricia Telesco, the\nEgyptians were the originators of leavening to make bread rise and\nthat they had over thirty different kinds of breads. (Telesco, 53). \nThey were also adept at brewing beer, which led to Isis being known\nas the \u201cLady of Bread, Lady of Beer\u201d, among many other titles.\n(Seawright, 1) However, other cultures had deities of bread, or at\nleast the hearth and oven, notably the Greeks and Romans, with the\nGoddesses Hestia, Demeter, Vesta, Ceres, Empanda or Panda, Fornax. \nThe Celts celebrated Brede as a goddess of the hearth, so if you work\nwith Celtic deities or you want to work with Brede because it\u2019s Her\nmonth, then by all means, invoke that Celtic of fire and poetry. \nBaking bread is nothing else than poetry in the form of dough, in my\nmost humble opinion!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\tIf\nit\u2019s a cold day, I turn the heat up in the house and preheat the\noven a few hours before I even start the baking process. The bread\nwon\u2019t rise if it\u2019s not warm in the room where you\u2019re baking. \nAtmospheric pressure also plays a role, although not as much as it\ndoes with cakes. But you might want to keep that in mind and try to\nbake on a high-pressure day. Your bread will rise much better. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first thing I do is a thorough cleaning of my work surface and gather all my tools. I used to have a really nice baking mat for my counter-top with measurements for pies and other pastries but it was lost in one of my many moves and I have never replaced it. And I don\u2019t have a bread machine or even an electric mixer. Everything is done by hand. If you have an electric mixer, by all means, use it \u2013 it\u2019ll make beating the eggs and mixing the milk-egg mixture into the flour-yeast mixture that much easier. I do admit that my arthritis is making these tasks a bit painful in my old age! Maybe this is the year I break down and get myself some power tools! But right now, I can still do all the beating and mixing by hand. And I absolutely adore <\/em>kneading the bread with my own two hands, although I do know that many mixers have a bread hook for kneading bread which will do it in minutes! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\tThe\nrecipe I use I developed myself. It\u2019s based on the one my mother\nused \u2013 she used to bake four loaves of bread every other day to\nfeed our family of eight. Her recipe used dry milk and Rapid-Rise\nyeast. Because my recipe is an adaptation of her recipe, it also\nuses Rapid-Rise (quick-rising) yeast but it works just fine with\nActive Dry Yeast \u2013 I have used both interchangeably in this recipe.\n I also use white sugar in this recipe. Lots of people don\u2019t use\nwhite sugar anymore, opting to use honey or brown sugar instead. I\nalmost never use white sugar at all anymore \u2013 I even put brown\nsugar into my coffee. However, adding honey to this recipe really\ndoesn\u2019t work. Believe me, I\u2019ve tried it. It weighs down the\ndough and changes the flavor considerably. I do have bread recipes\nthat use honey instead of white sugar; this is not one of them. This\nis simply a basic white bread that is great for sandwiches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\tBasic\nBread<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\t1\npackage Rapid-Rise (quick-rising) yeast<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\t\u00bc\ncup warm water (105-115 degrees F)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\t3\ncups flour<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\t2\ntablespoons sugar<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\t1\ntablespoon salt<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\t2\ncups scalded milk, cooled to warm (105-115 degrees F)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\t2\neggs, well beaten<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\t1\ntablespoon canola oil<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\t3\ncups flour, added \u00bd cup at a time<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cut\nopen your package of yeast and put it into your mixing bowl. Add the\n\u00bc cup warm water. I know that the water that comes out of my tap is\n110 degrees but BELIEVE ME, you want to have a food thermometer to\ntemp the water to make sure that it\u2019s not too hot or too cool so\nthat the yeast is properly activated. If this part of the process is\nscrewed up, you\u2019ll never have bread. Again, believe me. <\/em>It\u2019s\neasy to \u201ckill the yeast\u201d. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nAfter\nadding the water, give it a good stir. I love my little mini-whisk\nfor this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\tThen\nlet it sit for five minutes. Meanwhile, put the milk on the stove to\nheat. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Milk\nburns easily, so you have to be mindful when you have it on the heat\nand stir it so it doesn\u2019t scorch on the bottom. You want the heat\nto be high enough to scald the milk but not high enough to burn the\nmilk so be careful! As you stir, you \u201cstir in\u201d good intentions\nfor the bread \u2013 or \u201cstir out\u201d negative emotions, if you\u2019re\nworking with a waning moon. Baking bread is great for this kind of\nmagic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\tWhen\nlittle bubbles appear on the edges of the pan and the milk is\nbeginning to thicken, it\u2019s properly scalded. Set it aside so it\ncan cool. Again, I advise you to use a food thermometer! \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now\nwe return to the yeast and water mixture. See how bubbly it is? If\nit is not, then the water was too hot or too cold and the yeast\nwasn\u2019t activated. Throw it out and start over. But if it looks\nlike this, then you\u2019re good to go. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nYa\nknow what I love about this look? It looks like THE MOON. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSo\nnow, shift together three cups of flour, two tablespoons of sugar and\na tablespoon of salt. The sugar is necessary because the yeast eats\nit for energy \u2013 without it, the bread won\u2019t rise properly. Mix\nthis in. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nNow\nwe beat the eggs. I like to beat them until they are as frothy as\npossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nNext,\nwe want to add the beaten eggs to the scalded milk. Because the milk\nis still quite warm and eggs are \u2013 well, eggs \u2013 we need to\n\u201ctemper\u201d the eggs by adding a little milk to the egg mixture very\nslowly until the two are mixed evenly. If you add the eggs to the\nmilk mixture all at once, you\u2019ll end up with scrambled eggs in your\nmilk \u2013 like egg-drop soup \u2013 which is not <\/em>what we want. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nWhat\nI do is slowly pour the milk into the bowl of eggs as I beat them. I\nhad trouble taking pictures of this process with only two hands but I\nmanaged. I really need a few more hands! \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nAfter\nI get most of the milk into the bowl of eggs, I pour them back into\nthe pan and continue beating until the entire mixture is as frothy as\nthe head on a freshly-poured glass of beer. And then I pour that\n<\/em>mixture into the yeast-flour mixture and continue beating the\nhell out of it. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nThis\nis what you want the batter to look like after all that \u201cviolence\u201d\n!! \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nDon\u2019t\nforget to add the oil! I have to admit, I often forget the oil and I\nforgot it when I was making it this particular time. If you forget\nthe oil, it\u2019s not a major omission \u2013 your bread will just be a\ntad more crumbly than it would have been without it. I have to set\nthe oil in a place where I literally can NOT miss it so I won\u2019t\nforget it. I don\u2019t know why that\u2019s often a problem. Some kind\nof brain glitch, I guess!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nNow\nit\u2019s time to mix in the rest of the flour. What I do is put a cup\nof flour into the sifter and then sift half of it into the batter \u2013\nit\u2019s usually around seven turns of the handle. I mix that in and\nthen add the rest of the flour. That way, it\u2019s easy to remember\nhow much flour I am adding. My mother\u2019s recipe said to add 2\/3\u2019s\nof a cup at a time but I find it easier to do a half-cup. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nGenerally,\nit\u2019s a full three cups that gets added but sometimes it\u2019s three\nand a half cups and sometimes it\u2019s four cups \u2013 this is something\nthat you learn to \u201cfeel\u201d. Dough responds to weather and to\naltitude so it\u2019s always one of those calls you make at the time. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nWhen\nthe dough is ready, dust your baking mat or counter-top with some\nflour and roll out the dough onto it. Flour your hands to keep them\nfrom getting sticky and start kneading the dough. The way I was\ntaught was this: using the fleshy, muscular part of the palms of\nyour hands, press into the dough and then give it a quarter turn and\nthen repeat. You want to do this until the dough is sleek and supple\nbut you don\u2019t want to over-knead the dough \u2013 it\u2019ll produce a\ntough texture. It\u2019s easy to over-knead \u2013 it\u2019s a very\nmeditative act \u2013 and personally, I think the feeling of dough in my\nhands is one of the best feelings in the world. But nowadays, I am\nso busy that I tend to under-knead rather than over-knead because I\u2019m\njust pressed for time. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nYou\u2019ll\nhave to flour your hands more than once, so keep the bag of flour\nhandy. Also, this is not something that\u2019s easy to do and take\npictures at the same time!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nObviously,\nI use two hands to knead but I had to hold the camera with at least\none hand!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nPut\na few tablespoons of oil into the bowl and set the dough into it and\nturn so the entire ball of dough is covered. Then cover the bowl\nwith a light towel and set in a warm place to rise. Since I\u2019ve had\nthe oven on for several hours already, I put it on the counter next\nto the oven. You don\u2019t want it in a drafty place or by an open\nwindow unless it\u2019s a hot summer day. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nForget\nabout it for an hour. Do some housework, run errands, meditate, cast\na spell, make love. When you come back to the kitchen, it should\nlook like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nI\nlove that look! It has a fabulous smell, too. So now, take the\ntowel off and punch it down! (Honestly, I never realized how violent\nbaking bread is). When I was a kid, punching down the dough was\nalways a fought-for privilege amongst us kids. It\u2019s really fun,\nhow the air escapes out of the dough and it all collapses like a\nThanksgiving balloon after the parade. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nCover\nit up again and let it rise a second time, again for about an hour. \nThis time, punch it down again but let the dough rest for a few\nminutes while you prepare your baking mat again. Roll the dough out\non the mat and cut it in half with a large kitchen knife. As they\nagain rest, grease two loaf pans. Gently form the two sections of\ndough into loaves and set them into the loaf pans. Cover them with\nthe light towel and let them rise for a third hour. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nAfter\nan hour, the ready-to-bake loaves should look like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nPut\nthe loaves into a preheated 350-degree oven. If you\u2019re like me,\nthe oven\u2019s been on all through this process anyway, to keep the\nkitchen warm so the bread would rise properly. Bake for 30 to 40\nminutes, depending on your oven. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nThe\nloaves should be golden brown on the outside and should sound hollow\nwhen tapped on the bottom. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nThis\nis the texture you are striving for. I admit that I don\u2019t always\nget this. But this is the purpose of all that beating of the eggs\nand the milk. All that violence. <\/em>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd\nnothing tastes any better than this. The hell with carb-free. I\nlove my bread. Hail, Isis! Lady of Bread!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nYes,\nbaking your own bread takes time and dedication but so does anything\nworthwhile. I love it as a way to connect to my mother and my\ngrandmothers as well to my chosen goddesses. And I so love that\nfirst slice of bread, all golden and warm, just minutes out of the\noven. Believe me, there is absolutely nothing better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nUntil\nnext month, Brightest Blessings and Bon Appetite!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seawright, Caroline. \u201cIsis, Sister of Nepthys, Mistress of Magic\u201d. http:\/\/www.thekeep.org\/~kunoichi\/kunoichi\/themestream\/isis.html#.XETVFM17nIU<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telesco,\nPatricia. A Kitchen Witch\u2019s Cookbook<\/strong><\/em>. St\nPaul: Llewellyn Publications, 1994. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Kitchen Witch’s Cookbook on Amazon<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About\nthe Author:<\/strong>\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Polly\nMacDavid<\/strong> lives\nin Buffalo, New York at the moment but that could easily change,\nsince she is a gypsy at heart. Like a gypsy, she is attracted to the\ndivinatory arts, as well as camp fires and dancing barefoot. She has\nthree cats who all help her with her magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her\nphilosophy about religion and magic is that it must be thoroughly\nbased in science and logic. She is Dianic Wiccan and she is solitary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nblogs at silverapplequeen.wordpress.com<\/a>.\nShe writes about general life, politics and poetry. She is writing a\nnovel about sex, drugs and recovery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Baking Basic Bread I absolutely adore baking bread. To me, there is nothing more magical than the mixing of yeast and water and flour and sugar and salt to make a loaf of something nourishing and nutritious. If you have only had \u201cWonder Bread\u201d-type bread, then you don\u2019t know how fabulous real bread can be. I usually invoke Isis before I start a batch of bread. To me, Isis is the preeminent goddess of bread. According to Patricia Telesco, the Egyptians were the originators of leavening to make bread rise and that they had over thirty different kinds of breads. (Telesco, 53). They were also adept at brewing beer, which led to Isis being known as the \u201cLady of Bread, Lady of Beer\u201d, among many other titles. (Seawright, 1) However, other cultures had deities of bread, or at least the hearth and oven, notably the Greeks and Romans, with the Goddesses Hestia, Demeter, Vesta, Ceres, Empanda or Panda, Fornax. The Celts celebrated Brede as a goddess of the hearth, so if you work with Celtic deities or you want to work with Brede because it\u2019s Her month, then by all means, invoke that Celtic of fire and poetry. Baking bread is nothing else than poetry in the form of dough, in my most humble opinion! If it\u2019s a cold day, I turn the heat up in the house and preheat the oven a few hours before I even start the baking process. The bread won\u2019t rise if it\u2019s not warm in the room where you\u2019re baking. Atmospheric pressure also plays a role, although not as much as it does with cakes. But you might want to keep that in mind and try to bake on a high-pressure day. Your bread will rise much better. The first thing I do is a thorough cleaning of my work surface and gather all my tools. I used to have a really nice baking mat for my counter-top with measurements for pies and other pastries but it was lost in one of my many moves and I have never replaced it. And I don\u2019t have a bread machine or even an electric mixer. Everything is done by hand. If you have an electric mixer, by all means, use it \u2013 it\u2019ll make beating the eggs and mixing the milk-egg mixture into the flour-yeast mixture that much easier. I do admit that my arthritis is making these tasks a bit painful in my old age! Maybe this is the year I break down and get myself some power tools! But right now, I can still do all the beating and mixing by hand. And I absolutely adore kneading the bread with my own two hands, although I do know that many mixers have a bread hook for kneading bread which will do it in minutes! The recipe I use I developed myself. It\u2019s based on the one my mother used \u2013 she used to bake four loaves of bread every other day to feed our family of eight. Her recipe used dry milk and Rapid-Rise yeast. Because my recipe is an adaptation of her recipe, it also uses Rapid-Rise (quick-rising) yeast but it works just fine with Active Dry Yeast \u2013 I have used both interchangeably in this recipe. I also use white sugar in this recipe. Lots of people don\u2019t use white sugar anymore, opting to use honey or brown sugar instead. I almost never use white sugar at all anymore \u2013 I even put brown sugar into my coffee. However, adding honey to this recipe really doesn\u2019t work. Believe me, I\u2019ve tried it. It weighs down the dough and changes the flavor considerably. I do have bread recipes that use honey instead of white sugar; this is not one of them. This is simply a basic white bread that is great for sandwiches. Basic Bread 1 package Rapid-Rise (quick-rising) yeast \u00bc cup warm water (105-115 degrees F) 3 cups flour 2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon salt 2 cups scalded milk, cooled to warm (105-115 degrees F) 2 eggs, well beaten 1 tablespoon canola oil 3 cups flour, added \u00bd cup at a time Cut open your package of yeast and put it into your mixing bowl. Add the \u00bc cup warm water. I know that the water that comes out of my tap is 110 degrees but BELIEVE ME, you want to have a food thermometer to temp the water to make sure that it\u2019s not too hot or too cool so that the yeast is properly activated. If this part of the process is screwed up, you\u2019ll never have bread. Again, believe me. It\u2019s easy to \u201ckill the yeast\u201d. After adding the water, give it a good stir. I love my little mini-whisk for this! Then let it sit for five minutes. Meanwhile, put the milk on the stove to heat. Milk burns easily, so you have to be mindful when you have it on the heat and stir it so it doesn\u2019t scorch on the bottom. You want the heat to be high enough to scald the milk but not high enough to burn the milk so be careful! As you stir, you \u201cstir in\u201d good intentions for the bread \u2013 or \u201cstir out\u201d negative emotions, if you\u2019re working with a waning moon. Baking bread is great for this kind of magic. When little bubbles appear on the edges of the pan and the milk is beginning to thicken, it\u2019s properly scalded. Set it aside so it can cool. Again, I advise you to use a food thermometer! Now we return to the yeast and water mixture. See how bubbly it is? If it is not, then the water was too hot or too cold and the yeast wasn\u2019t activated. Throw it out and start over. But if it looks like this, then you\u2019re good to go. Ya know what I love about this look? It looks like THE MOON. So now, shift together three cups of flour, two tablespoons of sugar and a tablespoon of salt. The sugar is necessary because the yeast eats it for energy \u2013 without it, the bread won\u2019t rise properly. Mix this in. Now we beat the eggs. I like to beat them until they are as frothy as possible. Next, we want to add the beaten eggs to the scalded milk. Because the milk is still quite warm and eggs are \u2013 well, eggs \u2013 we need to \u201ctemper\u201d the eggs by adding a little milk to the egg mixture very slowly until the two are mixed evenly. If you add the eggs to the milk mixture all at once, you\u2019ll end up with scrambled eggs in your milk \u2013 like egg-drop soup \u2013 which is not what we want. What I do is slowly pour the milk into the bowl of eggs as I beat them. I had trouble taking pictures of this process with only two hands but I managed. I really need a few more hands! After I get most of the milk into the bowl of eggs, I pour them back into the pan and continue beating until the entire mixture is as frothy as the head on a freshly-poured glass of beer. And then I pour that mixture into the yeast-flour mixture and continue beating the hell out of it. This is what you want the batter to look like after all that \u201cviolence\u201d !! Don\u2019t forget to add the oil! I have to admit, I often forget the oil and I forgot it when I was making it this particular time. If you forget the oil, it\u2019s not a major omission \u2013 your bread will just be a tad more crumbly than it would have been without it. I have to set the oil in a place where I literally can NOT miss it so I won\u2019t forget it. I don\u2019t know why that\u2019s often a problem. Some kind of brain glitch, I guess! Now it\u2019s time to mix in the rest of the flour. What I do is put a cup of flour into the sifter and then sift half of it into the batter \u2013 it\u2019s usually around seven turns of the handle. I mix that in and then add the rest of the flour. That way, it\u2019s easy to remember how much flour I am adding. My mother\u2019s recipe said to add 2\/3\u2019s of a cup at a time but I find it easier to do a half-cup. Generally, it\u2019s a full three cups that gets added but sometimes it\u2019s three and a half cups and sometimes it\u2019s four cups \u2013 this is something that you learn to \u201cfeel\u201d. Dough responds to weather and to altitude so it\u2019s always one of those calls you make at the time. When the dough is ready, dust your baking mat or counter-top with some flour and roll out the dough onto it. Flour your hands to keep them from getting sticky and start kneading the dough. The way I was taught was this: using the fleshy, muscular part of the palms of your hands, press into the dough and then give it a quarter turn and then repeat. You want to do this until the dough is sleek and supple but you don\u2019t want to over-knead the dough \u2013 it\u2019ll produce a tough texture. It\u2019s easy to over-knead \u2013 it\u2019s a very meditative act \u2013 and personally, I think the feeling of dough in my hands is one of the best feelings in the world. But nowadays, I am so busy that I tend to under-knead rather than over-knead because I\u2019m just pressed for time. You\u2019ll have to flour your hands more than once, so keep the bag of flour handy. Also, this is not something that\u2019s easy to do and take pictures at the same time!! Obviously, I use two hands to knead but I had to hold the camera with at least one hand! Put a few tablespoons of oil into the bowl and set the dough into it and turn so the entire ball of dough is covered. Then cover the bowl with a light towel and set in a warm place to rise. Since I\u2019ve had the oven on for several hours already, I put it on the counter next to the oven. You don\u2019t want it in a drafty place or by an open window unless it\u2019s a hot summer day. Forget about it for an hour. Do some housework, run errands, meditate, cast a spell, make love. When you come back to the kitchen, it should look like this: I love that look! It has a fabulous smell, too. So now, take the towel off and punch it down! (Honestly, I never realized how violent baking bread is). When I was a kid, punching down the dough was always a fought-for privilege amongst us kids. It\u2019s really fun, how the air escapes out of the dough and it all collapses like a Thanksgiving balloon after the parade. Cover it up again and let it rise a second time, again for about an hour. This time, punch it down again but let the dough rest for a few minutes while you prepare your baking mat again. Roll the dough out on the mat and cut it in half with a large kitchen knife. As they again rest, grease two loaf pans. Gently form the two sections of dough into loaves and set them into the loaf pans. Cover them with the light towel and let them rise for a third hour. After an hour, the ready-to-bake loaves should look like this: Put the loaves into a preheated 350-degree oven. If you\u2019re like me, the oven\u2019s been on all through this process anyway, to keep the kitchen warm so the bread would rise properly. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on your oven. The loaves should be golden brown on the outside and should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. This is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18091\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}