Welcome to Baking Hugs!

Bye-Bye Bread

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love bread – not the soft, fluffy, rubber stuff sold as an edible napkin, but the scrunchy, chewy, whole grain staff of life bread. I can pass by decorated cakes without a twinge and eyeball ice cream as if were something alien and unappealing. But show me a slice of rich pumpernickel or marbled rye, and my knees buckle. There are breads that make sandwich filling unimportant: olive and herb rolls, panetone, extra sourdough, cheese rolls, raisin bagels, onion bread, poppyseed, sesame seed, and caraway.

Such breads are, we are frequently told, healthy and nutritious and make up part of a fiber-rich, natural diet. Unfortunately, the amount I’m likely to eat, once I start, is going to seriously derail my weight loss efforts. Cutting out butter and margarine, eschewing salad dressing above the 3 calories per tablespoon level, and eliminating fast foods and soft drinks does have a marked effect on my caloric intake. But I find that to really lose pounds, and keep them off, I have to pass on my favorite breads.

I hate it. Why can’t I enjoy one of my favorite foods without paying through the nose (actually through the abdomen and hips)? It’s so unfair! Well, Virginia, life is unfair and I have to learn to live with it. My body just can’t handle the carbohydrate load without burgeoning out of control. I suppose if I were really fitness-motivated, I’d run a few miles so I could have a fabulous sandwich. But, I admit it, I’m an exercise-phobe, barely able to make it through my minimal daily stretches.

I push my cart with blinders on through the aisles littered with stacks of baguettes, cocktail loaves, buttery croissants, and seed-encrusted bagels three times the size of those of childhood. I shed a tear at the frozen counter where that almost-instantly fabulous Bridgford mix calls my name. I drive four blocks out of my way to avoid passing the Italian market with the cristiest bread ever baked by man. In restaurants I become remarkably adept at covering the rolls and garlic bread with my own, and my dinner companion’s, napkins (it has to really stay out of sight).

Facing my weaknesses with guilt and self-criticism, I reluctantly conclude that bread has to go. Angry and resentful, but miserably aware of the choices I must make, I bid farewell for life to breads I will now only enjoy in my dreams.

The alternative means getting fat and I’m just not going to go there.

About the Author

Dr. Bola is a psychologist and an admitted diet fanatic, specializing in therapeutic reframing and the
effects of attitudes and motivation on individual goals.
Visit her at: http://www.DietWithAnAttitude.com/index2.html

Dan’s SourDough Bread

Sassafras La Cloche Brick Oven $47.50 One of the earliest ways to bake bread was underneath a curved cover or cooking pot placed over an open hearth. This is such a cooking bell made from hard-fired clay that nests on a lipped baking stone 10″ in diameter. Place your bread dough on the pie-shaped base, cover it with the bell, then put it in a preheated oven. A 2-pound loaf fits under the 8 1/2″ high dome. The lid traps moisture escapi…

Emerilware by T-Fal Emerilware 3-PoundBread & Baguette Maker $134.99 Bake your own Baquettes and breads quickly and easily with this programmable bread maker from Emerilware by T-fal. This versatile and easy to use machine comes preprogrammed with 14 settings, allowing it to bake breads, cake, dough, and even pastas. It also features touch pad controls to give you access to three crust settings, a 15 hour timer and an auto shut off or keep warm feature. This classi…

Sassafras Superstone Covered Baker $47.50 Turn your home oven into a commercial brick oven and create crusty, light French bread just like your favorite bakery. This French Bread Baker is made by one of the oldest potteries operating in the United States. Constructed from natural clay, it measures 14.5″ x 5.5″ x 3.25″ deep. It evenly distributes the oven heat and absorbs moisture released from the dough when baking. The results are some o…

Vital Wheat Gluten – 3.5 Pound Can $14.49 Honeyville’s Vital Wheat Gluten can be used to greatly improve bakery products. It is the gluten in wheat flour that is responsible for the unique features of bread, features which are not possible with other cereal flours. Vital Wheat Gluten is a concentrated protein that possesses a special visco-elastic property. As a functional protein, vital wheat gluten provides additional qualities to the d…

San Francisco Sourdough Starter $12.99 If you crave sourdough bread from San Francisco, this is the starter for you. Our San Francisco starter contains Lactobacillus sanfrancisco bacteria and wild yeast Candida humilis giving this sourdough starter that famous San Francisco taste. Easy to care for and use. For best results, we recommend feeding your sourdough starter weekly. This sourdough starter is available as a dehydrated culture….