Photo: Courtesy of Three Clever Sisters

I love bread. I mean, I REALLY love it.

Back in my peripatetic graduate school days, I used to take one step off the train or plane and point my feet towards the nearest bakery. Literally. Forget the gorgeous pastries (Germany!), sugary sweets (Turkey!) and omnipresent chocolate, I sought out serious grains wherever I went and never looked back.

These days, my diet remains heavily carbed-up, still by choice. My eyes really popped, then, at the post for homemade bread from Boston-based Sara of Three Clever Sisters. The photo (above) was irresistable, yes, but her supply of practical information even more so. Sara’s is not simply a textbook example of healthy, delicious bread, but a tip-filled advice column on how to make bread in your own kitchen, successfully. She gently coaxes and nearly cajoles. Her takeaway is ‘don’t be daunted!’

Apart from my dance with Irish soda bread in March, any bread that needs to be kneaded and allowed to rise scares me off. Have I got the time? Have I got the skill? No and no. But, thanks to Three Clever Sisters, I now have the courage and the how-to. The incentive, on the other hand, is always there…

Happy kneading! “How to Fit Breadbaking into Your Schedule” from Sara of Three Clever Sisters, based on this recipe.