“Peace goes into the making of a poem as flour goes into the making of bread.”
Pablo Neruda, Chilean Poet (1971 Nobel Prize in Literature)

Learning how to make bread is an easy and rewarding talent to possess. Bread making has been a part of human history for at least 14,000 years and traces of bread making have been found almost everywhere early humans migrated to.

Bread is regarded as, “the staff of life.” The materials used to make bread — wheat, barley, rye, and a few more — are easy to grow, easy to store, and easy to use. Thus, making bread and feeding ourselves has been easier since we matured from hunter-gatherers to farmers.

I feel good knowing with a few ingredients I can make a loaf of bread from memory. Take the ingredients below, mix them in a bowl, wait 30 minutes, kneed it with your hands until it feels and looks doughy, then set it aside in a covered bowl for two hours. When it’s doubled in size, gently flatten it and roll it into a log, put it in a greased bread pan, and into an oven pre-heated to 350F. Leave it in for about 30 minutes and enjoy!

Making bread is easier than you might think and it will really impress someone who had no idea you have a skill as old as time.

The Ingredients 

  • 3  1/2 cups bread flour*
  • 1  1/2 cups room temperature water
  • 2  teaspoons instant yeast
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

* Don’t scoop the flour as it will compress and you’d be adding to much. To measure flour accurately, fluff the flour, and spoon it into a measuring cup.