Making Bread

                                    

                                          


                          
Ch.17
                          
Today was a holiday so it was an unexpected vacation day. You were surprised Jackson had planned to close Délice for the day. It just felt so strange having a break in the middle of the work week. When you woke up later today, you were freaking out. The alarm clock didn't wake you up for work. You were ready to panic until you remembered it was a holiday. There was no need for you to come into Délice on a Thursday this time. That got you to relax instantly back into your bed. You were so close to waking up Daeho out of sleepy delusions. It's a good thing he's a bit of a deep sleeper. He didn't wake up at all when you were moving around in worry for a nonexistent workday.
                          
Though it was hard to go back to sleep. Your heart was still racing a tad which made you feel wide awake. There was no chance of you going back to sleep now that it was past eight thirty in the morning. You might as well get started with your day. The first thing you wanted to do was make bread from scratch. Rather than buying it at a store, you like making it yourself. You haven't been able to properly do that with Daeho around. Since he's sleeping, you can make this bread for yourself. Walking out into the kitchen, you began pulling out all the necessary ingredients to make homemade bread.
                          
The first thing you needed was just a simple bowl to hold one and a half cups of hot water. Anything over 100°F (40°C) is what you're aiming for. The thing you really love with bread is that it is such a fun recipe to play with. There are so many things you can do with it. For example, the next thing you put in the bowl of water was a half teaspoon of honey. It's also possible to switch honey out with sugar. Whatever preference someone has. With a whisk, you lightly mixed the honey into the water. Here is where the yeast comes in for the recipe. One and a half teaspoons of dry yeast and all you have to do is sprinkle it on top of the water. No mixing needed for this step.
                          
The more steps you took, the more fun you were beginning to have. You were getting into the zone of all this. You didn't even hear the bedroom door open as you continued with the ingredients. Once the yeast is in the water, you cover the bowl with a towel. Anything to let the yeast activate inside. Waiting for it took at least five to ten minutes. You moved around the kitchen in that time, setting up a station where you would be kneading the dough soon enough. When enough time passed, you checked on the yeast again. It looked puffy in its bowl which meant you were good to proceed.
                          
First, half a cup of whole wheat flour into the bowl and lightly whisk. Next, one teaspoon of salt. Some people put two but then you just find it too salty. To each their own! Now one tablespoon of oil was the next ingredient. It could be any kind, it really doesn't matter. What you pulled out was canola oil. You whisked it all together, ignoring the sound of footsteps. From here is when you begin to put half cups of bread flour in increments. You put in the first half cup, mix, another half cup, and you repeated the process. There wasn't an exact amount that you personally put in. It all depended on how much the yeast needed to properly become into dough. You needed it all to come together without being wet or sticky to the touch.
                          
"What are you doing?" A voice made you jump. With wide eyes, you turned to see Daeho watching you carefully. He observed everything in the kitchen, but his eyes mainly landed on the huge bags of flour that you had. He stared at you suspiciously for the longest time. "What is this?"
                          
"Don't scare me, Daeho." You sighed before continuing. "I'm making bread."
                          
"Bread!? As in, death!?" Daeho gasped.
                          
"I hope you're being dramatic." You added another half cup of flour. Daeho looked disturbed, walking closer to see what you were doing. Slowly, the dough was becoming more solid. The whisk wasn't going to work anymore so you brought out a wooden spoon to do the mixing. You touched the dough just in case, but it stuck to your finger and ripped from the rest of the batch. More flour! Daeho furrowed his brows and watched until you had a nice clump of dough in your bowl. Moving the bowl over to your kneading station, Daeho was losing his mind when you sprinkled flour onto the counter. He thought you had officially lost your mind.