I am not a baker, part II

My grandmother once told me I wouldn't be ready to marry until I could bake bread. So I'm already running behind and no one wants to disappoint Lola. Here's another good recipe for the non-baker, this time for dinner rolls. And this one doesn't take a day and a half to make.

These are called cornmeal rolls, but with only 1/2 cup of cornmeal vs 5 cups of bread flour, they don't taste much like corn. The resulting roll is slightly sweet a la pandesal but has more of a biscuit texture on the inside. I took the liberty of brushing the rolls with milk and sprinkling them with extra cornmeal before baking.

The bread rise still impresses me.

The bread was shared with family over the Easter weekend.

Paint eggs and enjoy chocolate bunnies. - Rex Navarrete

Preview

I am not a baker.

Baking is tedious. It requires a lot of time, patience, and exact measurements. There's no tasting while preparing, no adjusting during cooking, and no fixing once it's done. In most cases, if you screw up the only option is to throw it out and start over. In short, baking sucks. Also, bakers have to wake up really really early.

But in an attempt to be a well-rounded chef, I wanted to try to make bread. I found a great recipe online that requires very little kneading. Plus, it has a funny name.

A Big Lazy Loaf Recipe

Bonus: The smell of freshly baked bread filled my apartment for hours.

My resulting loaf was oh so pretty - golden brown with a lovely crackling crust. It traveled nicely and my husband and I ate it in Central Park with salami, Manchego, fresh tomatoes and a great view.

Central Park, New York City, March 28, 2009