September 10, 2010

The simplest and most delicious white bread





This is turning out to be a terrible week. It was supposed to be a week of celebration. We knew we were going to have the official approval of the loan for the house and basically we would have closed the deal. After that it was going to be only a matter of “when” (not “if”) we were going to move into out first home….Ohhh our first nest….our dream house….everything seemed too good to be true.




Despite a few things that did not go perfectly smooth due to our inexperience, everything went great….until Monday night. That terrible night, the agent called us saying that out of the blue the seller had decided not to sell anymore. Panic, disappointment, helplessness and much more came through our minds and hearts but never never never it occurred to us that they were trying to cheat us! I say they because we still don’t know the real behind the scene…you can never completely blame anybody. You never know the whole story. You never know the full truth.



Of course, we were shocked. How is it possible? Why did this happen? These were the first questions. Followed by “can this really be happening?” “Is it legal?”. After all, we have a contract. The immediate phone call to my in-laws reveals us that it is very likely that the seller has no right to step back from the purchase. Long story short: we got in touch with a lawyer and it seems we have done everything right, legally and in good faith while they (more the agent than the poor seller who is actually finding himself in a bit of a mess too - but this story is to long to be revealed here) did not. However, in the meantime we are suffering the consequences: thousands of emails, agent not complying, losing sleep, uncertainty, and of course the mental fatigue of dealing with a lot of crazy stuff. Things are (hopefully without any law suit) going to be finalized in these days. I still don’t completely believe we will get this house (I won’t until I will move my furniture in!). This aside, in this moment we are just left with one feeling: sadness. We are very sad for the fact that we tried to be correct, nice, accommodating (to the seller asking us for more time to move out etc) and the only thing we got in return was deceit.



All this happened, during the three days I spent working 12 hours a day moving the school to the new location and setting it up for the licensing agency to come. Today, I just needed comfort food. The only thing I could think about was to make this recipe. This is the simplest yet most delicious bread I’ve ever had. I make it recurrently when in need of comfort food. Today was the right day.

Soft White Bread
Ingredients

540 gr (4 cups or 19.2 oz) bread flour
113 gr (1/2 cup) butter, melted
60 ml (2 fl oz or 1/4 cup) buttermilk
60 ml (2 fl oz or 1/4 cup) whole milk
230 ml (8 oz or 1 cup) lukewarm water
15 gr (1 tbsp) active dry yeast
75 gr (6 tbsp or 2.7 oz) sugar
5 gr (1 tsp) salt

In a bowl add lukewarm water and sprinkle yeast on top.

Warm up buttermilk and add it, together with the melted butter to the yeast.

Blend together and add the dry ingredients.

Place the dough onto a floured surface and knead it for 8-10 minutes.

Place the dough into a oiled bowl. Turn it to cover all sides with oil. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let it rise until double in bulk.

Punch down gently the dough and cut it in half. Place it into 2 loaf pans, cover it and let it rise again.

Bake at 400 F for 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Have a sweet day! 

15 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry to hear about your house purchasing nightmare. Buying a home can be incredibly stressful without a mess like this! Hope it all works out in your favor and in a few weeks it will only be a bad memory!
    Bread is certainly a great comfort food in times like this :o)

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  2. So sorry to hear about your house-buying nightmare! Glad that your tried and true bread recipe could comfort you a bit - it certainly looks like it could heal all sorts of ailments! Hope things work out for the best for you.

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  3. Food always helps -- Things should turn out even better for you now!

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  4. Your bread looks fantastic. Buttermilk i bet made it really tender. Sorry to hear about your house issue. I hope it gets resolved and in the meantime definitely enjoy your comfort food (=

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  5. I'm so sorry that you've had to go through so much with your new house! I completely agree that some serious comfort food is in order...especially something as yummy as homemade bread!

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  6. The bread looks like it would make anybody feel better! Hope your house situation gets better soon.

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  7. Thank you all for the moral support. Hopefully the house issue will be solved in a few days. In the meantime, this bread really helped me out. I'm already happy again and ready to bake!

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  8. Sorry about your house issue, but things will work out I am sure...sometimes things work out even better, they are just disguised by problems... You will have your dream home :) This bread is wonderful and very comforting indeed...

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  9. Sorry to hear about the horrible ordeal with your house adventures. Hopefully a better one will come along. I agree - comfort food is just what you needed. I have not had much experience making bread, so this one looks simple and a must try. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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  10. I just found your blog this afternoon, and I'm so glad that I did! Wonderful stuff. I'm sorry about your ordeal, but I hope that this bread brought you some comfort. Thank you so much for sharing with me, and I look forward to reading many more of your posts in future months.

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  11. This bread looks like it could right any problem. I'm so sorry about the house! I can totally feel your pain. My husband and I searched a solid for 9 months for our first house and finally closed on one back in February. It's such a process and people are so frustrating to work with sometimes!

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  12. @Magic of Spice @Lisa @Sarah: thanks for the kind words...I really hope everything will get solved next week!
    @Monet: thanks for stopping by! I'm so glad you did! This way I discovered your blog too and I'm already drooling! I think I will get lot of inspiration!

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  13. Oh, Sara, how awful!!! I'm so sorry to hear about this. Please remember this, sometimes when we think bad things have happened they're really good in disguise. I remember losing the job of my dreams when the owner's daughter (my grade school good friend) decided she'd join the family business. I was devasted. But, it's turned out over the years to be the best thing that could have happened to me. I just hope this all works out well for you. Take Care, Kate

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  14. I am so, so sorry that you're going through this. It's especially difficult when the end was so close and you had already placed furniture in rooms, hung drapes, repainted walls, etc. All in your mind, of course, but still so personal and "owned" by you. My heart breaks to think of that all falling apart.

    If it doesn't work out, it just means that there is something better out there and you'll find out in a few months that that house sits over a big sink hole or something.

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