It was the spring of 2021 when I took my first online baking class with Sara Ward. My daughter, Alli, was by my side, as we watched Sara from her kitchen in England guide us through the creation of a loaf of yeast-based bread.
That sparked something in me that I will be forever grateful for. A hobby that is shareable. One that delights others while also providing profound personal enjoyment.
Over the past four years I’ve developed a list of both sourdough and yeast-based breads that I love baking. At this point, roughly eight to ten items that I feel very comfortable making.
But on Christmas morning, I unwrapped a present from Mary that was both a gift and a challenge.
King Arthur’s Big Book of Bread was published in 2024 and contains 462 pages of instruction, photographs, recipes, and guidelines. The subtitle, ‘125+ Recipes for Every Baker’, serves as a challenge to those who have become comfortable baking only what they already know.
In
so many ways, the book represents a perfect invitation to the coming year—a
year with a milestone birthday, a continued professional transition, and a
progression from soldier to sage.
Yet I can’t help but feel that 125+ new recipes perfectly capture what I need
to embrace. Ten familiar recipes don’t need to be replaced, but they shouldn’t
be confined either.
Growth tests us. It pushes us beyond our familiar successes and invites
exploration. It takes the skills we’ve cultivated and stretches them into new
frontiers—frontiers where failure is a distinct possibility. Frontiers of
unfamiliarity. Frontiers that humble, expand, disappoint, and then delight.
Trading solid ice for thin, I step out—using familiar ingredients in new ways.
Saying yes to uncertainty, and no to complacency. Yes to the possibility of
discovery, and no to old ruts.
My old favorite bakes don’t disappear; they simply live on in an ever-expanding
community of carbohydrates.
Jesus said, ‘I
am the bread of life…’
Sometimes sweet. Sometimes savory. Sometimes yeast. Sometimes sourdough.
Sometimes a 24-hour process. Sometimes just three hours. Sometimes familiar.
Sometimes new.
The Big Book of Bread.
2025.
125+ recipes.
All new.
An invitation to risk. The possibility of failure. The opportunity for delight.
One loaf at a time.
Happy New Year.
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