Keep Calm and Carry On: The Diary of Foodie and Gourmet

After my success with the crusty round country loaf, I thought I'd challenge myself and attempt to bake a whole wheat loaf. I should preface this by saying that I tend to eat whole wheat bread in my day-to-day life. Always endeavoring to maintain a healthy diet -- although I do indulge and treat myself every so often -- my normal diet consists of whole wheat carbohydrates. This includes bread, rice, and pasta.  Keeping this in mind, and still feeling exhilarated from my recent adventures in bread baking, I thought I'd attempt Buzzfeed's "Amazing Home Made Bread" recipe . I'm sorry to report that this recipe did not go quite as well as my round country loaf. If you go to Buzzfeed's website, they produce a beautiful looking fluffy whole wheat loaf, while mine was very dense -- also rock like. My read had a grainy texture -- made me think of a 12 grain country loaf.  I'm not really sure why my loaf turned out different from Buzzfeed's. I

Over the past month, I have been binge-watching "The Great British Bake Off." I know that I'm probably late to the game, but hey, I got there in the end. Like many people who watch the show, I am OBSESSED. I am consistently excited by the recipes and challenges completed in each episode, but I'm especially impressed by the skill of the bakers. I've always loved to bake, but these guys REALLY love to bake -- and they're exceptionally good it! (For the most part...)  Anyway, this post isn't about "The Great British Bake-Off" -- although if anyone wants to chat about it, I'm always game! No, this post if about how I was inspired to challenge myself after watching many episodes of "The Great British Bake-Off."  For years, I've always wanted to bake my own bread, but was too intimidated to do so. For some reason, the idea of using yeast and having to let it sit and double in size and such really intimidated me. In retrospec