Bread

I love bread! My family has always had homemade bread and I want to continue the tradition. It's not really complicated, but definitely takes some practice. These are a few of my recent attempts.

It's been fun and taught me a lot, like:

• Don't let the bread raise too long. I got home from the gym later than expected, and it has risen long enough that it actually deflated while cooking (hence the wilted look in the first picture). They can also droop if it hasn't been kneaded long enough or the loaf wasn't very tight when it was shaped.
• New shapes are fun! The braided loaf was nearly gone after one meal with just two of us. Why the slashes? That is supposed to help the bread rise even more in the oven, if the temp is high enough and if it was formed right.

The biggest question to answer is how to keep the bread from drying out while living in a bone dry place. Any suggestions?