I was the butcher, now the baker and possibly the Glade Scented Candle(-stick?) maker.

So remember when I said that pumpkin time was my favorite time?

Well, I'm sorry, but I lied. 

Bread time is my favorite time. 

Maybe followed by bread and cheese time. 

And THEN pumpkin time.

But pumpkins are no longer relevant! So expel them from your minds' stomach until they arrive in pie form on your Thanksgiving table and please continue on with me, this fine November, to unravel the mysteries of Bread Baking!

Do you know why bread time is my favorite time? 

Many reasons, but let's start at the nose.

The wonderfully wafting smell of happy little loafs which have just jumped joyously from the oven is the best smell in the world. Period. Please don't argue with me. Yeah, jasmine is pleasant and pachouli will always tie in nicely with any degree of body odor, but--flowers and Birkenstocks aside--fresh bread is the best gift your nostrils will ever receive. It really should be a Glade Scented Candle. I would probably buy them out. 

One of the main reasons why I believe this is such a holy smell is simply because it's lack in our first world lives. We have grown incredibly estranged from baking, and yet it can be such a therapeutic and rewarding process. All you knead (get it? "knead" instead of "need"?) is a little bit of strength, a little bit of patience, and the whole-hearted ability to get a little dirty. Three things I believe essential not only in bread making, but in life. 

And check out the product of that fundamental trifecta:

Isn't it just beautiful?

You can't get much more rustic and wholesome then a fresh, crusty loaf-- sorry Norman Rockwell. 

So please, let loose and reconnect yourself with the therapies of old! Revel in the fundamental trifecta! Allow your nose the experience of it's schnozzy life time! 

Happy baking, my friends--

-H

P.S. If you want a bread recipe, let me know. I would post one on here... but the art of choosing as never been my forte.