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Baking Again

This past year, I returned to bread making after a multi-year hiatus. The recipe I started with was one of the easiest yet and worked out wonderfully. It was exactly what I needed to get back into the flow of things - relearn how the dough should feel to touch when it is ready. I was experimenting a good bit back when I started to bake until I met M. Admittedly, I do not know legions of excellent home bakers but M was certainly highly excellent by any standard. Her breads were the kind you would buy at an upscale bakery. It would be one thing to know of M's talents but I had the privilege of watching her in action in her own kitchen. If she was "baking bread" I am not exactly sure how I would describe my efforts - the level of play bedazzled and bamboozled me to the point that I could not return to baking bread anymore. 

While my productions had been far from perfect, artisan bakery quality - they had been like a solid effort with acceptable results. That was life before I was in M's kitchen. After that it got difficult to view my work in such charitable terms. Then the pandemic happened and everyone was being a sourdough parent - I sat out the trend but enjoyed seeing the efforts of others. It helped me overcome the shock and awe M had created. These folks were having very decent success in their efforts and none of it was perfect - maybe there is path for me yet. Somewhat back in the saddle again, I have decided not to strive for levels of excellence that are simply out of my reach. Home bakers can range from the likes of me to those like M. Every person who aspires to bake a loaf of bread should feel free to do so, no matter what they produce. 

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