Bread - My New Challenge

 Bread - "The Staff of Life" for humans for thousands of years. 

Every culture in human history has some form of bread in its list of foods.  Many even consider bread an important part of their religious practice and tradition.

And to complicate the matter, there are literally thousands of ways to make bread.  

Needless to say, not all bread recipes turn out the same..   Some are better than others, and some last a very long time.

Anyone responsible for cooking food for themselves, their family, or even an army, knows how to make bread.  Some meals just can't be complete without bread.

The list of how bread is actually used is endless.  Not only is it used as food, it is even used as art.

So why am I challenged by this simple but clearly the greatest of all foods?  

For the past twenty years, I've been working on becoming a bread-maker, a "Baker" if you will.  During that time I had some successes, but non that I could duplicate repeatedly.  I blame most of my failures on not following recipes, but I'm seriously beginning to think Magic may be involved.  And I'm willing to learn magic, if that's what it takes.  

Meanwhile, this is my bread today.  It's pretty, and even a little tasty, but it's just not quite right.

I'll keep working on it.

 

Updates

 A lot has been happening lately and I need to update my blog.

Medically speaking, I'm still alive, but I'm being run through the treatment mill for my vision, legs, and back, as well as the usual stuff.

My vision challenges now include yet another doctor, Dr. Reddy.  He is an ophthalmologist who may or may not have experience dealing with ex-RK Surgery patients.  My glaucoma specialist thought he may have a solution.  

It seems that former RK Surgery patients tend to suffer from a lot of issues.  That would be me.  So far, only one visit, and he too is baffled by my foggy vision.  But he gave me some drops that may help produce more tears to better lubricate my dry eyes.  We'll know if they are helping when I see (pun intended) my glaucoma specialist again in a couple of days.  I had a few good days after using Dr. Reddy's test drops for a few weeks.  Maybe it will continue o get better.

My leg issues (edema) resulted in me being introduced to Radio Frequency Ablation.  That procedure is done at my cardiologist's office under mild sedation.  He uses the procedure to "kill" a vein that is not working well.  Another vein will take over the circulation and gradually grow larger, thereby increasing the blood flow in my legs.  

My next visit in two days will be the last surgery (I think).  After that, it will be visits and scans to make sure it is working.

My back pain was narrowed down to the usual area for back pain: L-3, L-4, L-5, and S-1.  The Pain Management doctor did test injections of Lidocaine to make sure of which nerve was causing the pain,  Then he followed with Radio Frequency treatment.  It still hurts but not nearly as much.  And I'm assured it will get better in time.

In the meantime, my 13 year old desktop computer developed a problem that would cost more to repair than to replace.  So, while trying to figure out my next move, I fell back on my 20-year-old desktop.  It works fine but is like stepping back in time.  So I decided to switch to my 8-year-old laptop and buy an oversized monitor: 32" Curved Screen Dell. Nice...

Meanwhile, I felt good enough one day to cut out some pieces of cedar for my Birdhouse Cathedrals.  It took a while but I finished four.  All are committed to being gifts - the first one at our Terra Mariae Christmas Luncheon as a door prize.  I'm not sure I will be able to make more.  If I can't see to safely drive a car, I certainly have to consider the risks of operating a table saw.  I really enjoyed making them too.

Finally, I've been trying to make bread.  It always comes up a bit short of perfect.  But I'm determined...

This huge monitor really strains my good eye.  So I may have to give up computering too.