Rise

 

This dough has been worked over real good. 

I have slapped it

 

Punched it down and beat it until it was flat

And then I finished it off with a prison pounding

And then I put it in a dark corner and this dough 

said to me...."F***" you. 

Now watch me rise

Watch me Rise

Life is a lot like that too.There are times I have been beat down and flattened, but something magical happened. Something spirtiual that made me transform under the pressure. 

I rose and you will rise too.

Even after all that pounding and flattening, heat made me rise even more.

Your enemies will think you are done and then you will rise and become so fragrant. They won't even know what hit them. 

You won't even look the same.

I said you won't look the same

Who ever thought that baking bread would have such a powerful metaphor for life. I have been baking bread since I was a little girl and now I bake bread as a mom with my son by my side.  Baking bread is a labor of love.  When you feel flattened by life, think about this metaphor. I bet you will never look at a loaf of bread the same way.

I hope I have inspired you. And now I want to encourage you to try my bread recipe. Ready? Here we go! 

Rosemary  Bread

Ingredients

2 ¼ teaspoon yeast

1 ¼ cup warm water

3 ¼ cups flour

¼ treapoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon dried rosemary

Melted butter mixed with olive oil  (Approximately 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter

Stir yeast in warm water and let stand for 5 minutes.

In large bowl, beat 1 cup of flour with yeast mixture, adding salt, to make a smooth batter. Beat in 2 1/4 cups of remaining flour and herbs. Dough will be stiff.

Turn onto a floured board, and knead for 10 minutes. Slam the dough down onto the counter at least 6 times!

Form dough into a smooth ball, and place in a greased bowl with a lid or plastic wrap. Cover and allow it to double in size (90 minutes). Punch dough down and form ball again. Cover. Let it double again (60 minutes). Punch down dough. Roll into a flat big ball.

Place on a greased baking sheet or use parchment paper. Cut into the top 4 shallow cuts, forming a big X.

Cover with a cloth and let it rise for 30 minutes.

Brush with melted butter, and olive oil, sprinkle with dried rosemary

Bake at 375F for 30 minutes.

*Using parchment paper allows the bread to just slide off the paper and pan right onto your cutting board. Also, put covered bowl into oven with light on, and it will rise better.

Baking bread is so much fun! My son loves playing with the dough and then enjoying the warm bread fresh from the oven. I hope you have as much fun baking this as we did:-)


And remember, like bread, YOU WILL RISE.