Blog Sloth and Pretty Much Perfect Toast

"The toast was pretty much perfect, sweetheart."
             - G

When I googled the phrase "bloggers' block" there were over three million hits.  Most of the early ones were lists of helpful suggestions for finding material about which one might blog. 

I realized then that I don't have bloggers' block.  Instead, I seem to be suffering from a hazy blogging malaise mainly characterized by a lack of motivation.  Honestly, I just haven't been able to get myself to blog.   I have no lack of material; I've been cooking, at least when I'm in town.  We've certainly been eating, and eating well.  And I even have photos of some of the things I've made and some of the places where we've eaten recently, most notably on our recent Vermont trip. 

Truthfully, I'm probably just a bit tired.  November has been hell month here at the home of Finger In Every Pie.  I have two conferences this month, requiring travel and various presentations to prepare, another out-of-town trip to visit family, and special events to coordinate at work.  Thanksgiving, for which I will bear major responsibility this year, looms on the horizon.   In addition, there's always the day-to-day:  the demands of a job in the public schools, teaching a weekly graduate seminar, and private tutoring.  Today's challenge was a celebratory dinner for my father (happy 93rd, dear Dad!) which I didn't cook, thanks to my dear sibling and his wife, who procured a splendid Chinese meal and plenty of festive beverages for all.  It did entail a homemade chocolate cake and the purchasing of numerous gifts, however. 

With substantial support and unflagging love from G, all these demands are not only being met, but for the most part have been going swimmingly.  In fact, my LA presentation was so well received that I've been invited to present at two more conferences.  Both, thankfully, are a ways off -- San Diego in April; San Francisco in July. 

Even when all goes off as planned, the spirit can sometimes be weary.   But there are always solutions.  Perhaps the easiest and best of these is toast.  As comforting as noodles or mashed potatoes, toast gives you not only the wished-for vehicle for butter, but supplies a lovely contrast of textures.  In this particular instance, I refer to not just any toast, but toast made from homemade bread, spread not once but twice with good butter. 

The toast pictured above owes its dear perfection to the much lauded and truly delightful Bakerina, who supplies the recipe for rice bread, which she acquired from Elizabeth David, who had it from Eliza Acton.  So do good recipes find not just a home, but many homes.   With good reason, Bakerina herself  has posted more than once about the virtues of this bread --  but I can't resist a turn at singing its praises too.  It is almost as easy as it is wonderful, and that's saying a lot.  It's hard to imagine mixing, proofing and baking bread after a full workday, but this bread makes such an act possible.  I'm big on trying new things;  recipes have to be pretty special to bear repetition in my book.  I've made this bread repeatedly in the past several weeks, and it just tastes better and better to us.  The fragrant nutty smell of basmati rice, the wonderful crunchy crust with its browned rice grains, and the pillowy, just slightly chewy texture of the innards draw us both to eat slice after slice.  Each time I make it, I marvel at the fact that I'm spending pennies to make a bread that would cost me dearly in an artisanal bakery. 

This bread makes great bread-and-cheese to have with soup, and lovely sandwiches, especially when grilled.  But its finest hour comes when it is toasted.  And if you are simply bad to the bone like we are, you will toast it the way that we sometimes do, at least for our late-night toast binges.  We employ a dreadful trick of G's, known as "double buttering".  Maybe everyone already knows about this and does it, but they just don't talk about it.  If that's true, then I'm probably committing a horrendous gaffe.  Ah well...you're only as sick as you are secret, as the self-help group enthusiasts say.  And your cardiologist already knows all these bad things about you anyway, because she probably double-butters her toast too. 

The socially frowned-upon act of double buttering requires a light slathering of butter before the bread is placed in the toaster oven (please, kids, don't try this in a vertical slot toaster.  This is meant for the toaster oven only).  When the bread is crunchily brown on the crusty edges, and the buttery tops have begun to glaze over with browny-gold goodness, you may remove the toast and give it just the tiniest touch more butter.  You don't want to make it violently greasy, so err on the side of lightness here. 

Eat this toast secretly, happily alone or in the company of one who loves you and is eating it too, matching you slice for slice.  Your responsibilities won't go away, but when you're in the middle of a week or even a month that seems like it will never end, and the world weighs heavily upon you, you'll know that there's always toast. 

 

Comments

[Bakerina]

Julie, you're making me blush here. Thank you, dearest. :) I agree with you that the first time you make this bread, it is a sock-knocking-off experience, realizing how wonderful something so easy can be. As you mentioned, this particular recipe comes from Eliza Acton by way of Elizabeth David, who writes in English Bread and Yeast Cookery: "There are times when I believe that Miss Acton is too good to be true" -- and then instantly notes that no, she wasn't too good to be true. Miss Acton did her research and her legwork, and unlike many of her contemporaries, she tested every recipe she ever published. She was truly that good.

[Lea]

Julie, I've tears in my eyes...over toast!

When all else fails, you can always remember what G said,

"The toast was pretty much perfect, Sweetheart."

It just, somehow, evens out the day.

Lea xo

[Debi]

Looked all over Bakerina's blog, and cannot find the Rice Bread recipe. Could you please share?

[Bakerina]

Sorry about that, Debi. In the time since Julie posted this post, I've moved my blog from TypePad to Expression Engine, so a lot of the old links don't work. If you go to my February 2004 archives (which you can find in the "monthly archives" pulldown menu, it's the post entitled "The Rice Bread Tutorial." I'm not sure which page it's on, but it's definitely somewhere in the February 2004 archives. Good luck! (And drop me a line if you have any questions. I'll be in Pittsburgh for the next few days, but will be back on Monday.)