The Bread Still Rises
When I first began baking bread, I followed the directions with near-religious devotion. Three and a half cups of flour.Two teaspoons of yeast.Knead for exactly eight minutes.Let rise for precisely one hour, or until doubled. I watched the clock like a nurse timing medication. I pressed the dough with my fingertip to test elasticity. I worried over humidity and altitude and whether the kitchen was warm enough. Bread felt like chemistry. Now? I stir it with a wooden spoon until it looks right.I let it rise while I answer emails or sweep the floor.If it sits thirty minutes, fine.If it sits two hours, also fine. And it works. The bread still rises. Somewhere along the way I realized something unsettling and freeing at the…