You know how there are some people in this world who make things worthwhile?
My neighbour Michelle is one of those.
Last week, she asked me to teach her to bake bread.
“I want to make grain bread,” she said, “just a basic recipe, but I want it to be MY thing, so I can bake it and give it to people as gifts, like you do.”
And since I adore Michelle, I was more than happy to oblige.
On Tuesday, she came over for a lesson. Here’s the formula we used for her very first loaf (photo above)…
- 500g bakers flour
- 300g water
- 50ml extra virgin olive oil
- 8g fine sea salt
- a handful of grains, soaked overnight in water
- 10g dried yeast
We followed the basic instructions in the Bread #101 Tutorial, although we only kneaded the dough for a minute or so.
The finished loaf was tender and delicious. Michelle was excited, her husband Shaun was overjoyed, and I sent her home with a bag of flour and some yeast.
On Thursday, Michelle baked a loaf all on her own, and brought over a wedge for us to try. It tasted better than the loaf she’d baked with me – she’d tinkered with the quantities, and added slightly more salt…
Today, she baked a baguette, a small focaccia, and two round loaves. She brought over a slab of the focaccia, which was light, salty and very moreish. In the short space of a week, she has already developed her own style – her loaves no longer taste like mine. It’s now truly HER bread, and it will continue to evolve with time. She has enthusiastically fed her loaves to family and friends, and tonight she took the baguette to a barbeque.
As I sat in her kitchen today, watching her scrape dough onto a floured board, she announced, “Now that I’ve figured this out, I’d like to learn how to bake sourdough next!”
As I said, some people just make it all worthwhile. ♥
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Wish I was your neighbor…I always tell you that…Good for Michelle!!!!
Wouldn’t we have fun, Norma! :)
Oh wow! A whole blog post all about me?! Feeling so special right now.
Celia is a really really good teacher, and I should know, because I am one! Not to mention that she and Pete are out-of-this-world neighbours. We brag to everyone we know about the abundance of gourmet gifts; not to mention the open door policy for cups of tea and chats…Thank you so much Celia. Michelle :)
Darling, being good neighbours means allowing the emotional woman from across the road to lie on your floor at 9pm. Thank you, I really needed that! :) We were showing off your bread to our visitors last night! :) xx
What a lovely gift you gave her Celia :)
Tandy, she’s just taken it and run with it! And she’s already baking magnificent bread! :)
I agree with Tandy – a wonderful gift that perhaps one day she’ll pass along to another friend.
Misky, that’s a nice thought, isn’t it? Her mum has already asked her how she made the loaves.. :)
Oh I wish I was your neighbour too Celia. I have always loved the idea of having a bread baking lesson with you.
:-) Mandy xo
Mandy darling, you don’t need a bread baking lesson, you already make such wonderful loaves! But it would be fun to have a cup of tea.. :)
Let me know if you feel like moving to Brisbane…or Italy.
One of these days, we might just surprise you Deb..
Congratulations to Michelle. Another baker is born.
Glenda, she’s so clever! And she’s producing such nice bread already!
Lovely tale and lovely neighbour. That old saying ‘give a man a fish and you feed him today. Teach him to fish and he will have food for life’ comes to mind.
Pat, Michelle has so much enthusiasm – I wouldn’t be surprised if she stops buying bread altogether from now on! :)
The gift is also one of character- I love that she wants to give the bread away “like you do”. Lovely story, Celia- I would also love to be your neighbour. :)
Heidi, then I’d be coming to your house for bread baking lessons! :) xx
Can I come over for a sour dough lesson?!
It’s quite a hike darling, but sure.. :)
Your are a good teacher and Michelle is a good student. How rewarding and satisfying you must feel.
Norma, I’m sure you understand with all the people you’ve taught! I’ve taught quite a few friends to bake bread, but none of them have approached it with quite this much gusto! :)
Looks appetising.
It was, Peter, thank you! :)
Apart from Michelle’s bread looking and sounding delicious, as usual when reading your posts I admire your inspiration & generosity and that you inspire it in kind in others. I know however also the great feeling of teaching something to someone who values & embraces it… truly rewarding to see them doing their thing with it :)
ED, thank you – and you’re exactly right! It’s exciting to be able to share the mania a bit! :)
Sometimes, all it takes is a good and patient teacher to inspire us, Celia. :-)
Amanda, thank you, you’re very kind! I wish I could convince everyone how easy breadmaking really is! :)
How lovely to have neighbours who have become treasured friends. It must have been so lovely to bake bread together. Good on you for teaching her – it sounds like she became an accomplished bread maker in no time xx
She’s off and running, Charlie! And we really do have the best neighbours in the world..
That is neighbourhood perfection right there. x
Kavey, it really is! I’m going to wander over with another bag of flour for her shortly – she’s already baked up the first one! :) xx
That was so very nice of you, Celia. You must be an incredible teacher and Michelle an exceptional student. Isn’t it nice to see someone take your lessons and run with them?
I’d love to say I wish I were you neighbor but, frankly, with so many others wanting to live there, the housing costs would skyrocket and I couldn’t afford it. I’ll live across the street and down the block a bit, where the houses aren’t in such high demand. Don’t worry. You’ll be welcome anytime. :)
And you know I’d be sure to visit, John! :) Maybe you could teach me how to make battuto firsthand.. :)
Quite frankly I feel shivers down my back: what a fabulous story. I doubt you’ll ever pass one another without that special smile on both faces . . . and I’ll try the recipe myself . . . don’t quite know whether one can make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, but shall try :) !
Thanks Eha, hope the bread works for you! :)
How wonderful Celia! That must have been so touching to have someone ask to learn from you. You guys are going to make real estate prices sky rocket in your street. Everyone will want to live near the gourmet bakers! x
Claire, all the neighbours will be baking soon! Maude bakes amazing sourdough, Dredgey makes pizza and focaccias, and now Michelle’s caught the bug! :)
To be asked to learn to do something “like you do” is so special Celia especially when it is to give away “like you do”. Our floor is available to you Celia anytime – there’s a good breezy spot right in the kitchen as it happens:)
Jan, it was very nice to be asked by someone we’re so fond of! One of these days we’ll come up for a visit! :)
Aww that is such a sweet story! I love it :D And now she’s off baking which must be so rewarding for you!
It really is, Lorraine, as I’m sure you know given how many people make your recipes! :) She just rang me to tell me she was taking another loaf to lunch today! :)
What a lovely story indeed :) Talk about paying it forward! It must be wonderful for you both to have such lovely neighbors xox
Thank you darling, I think we’re very lucky indeed! :) xx
You have a wonderful community in your neighborhood Celia, I can feel it! Sharing ‘bread love’ is amazing and I think most bakers are generous with both their time and their baking because it brings so much joy!
Jane, I think it’s even more than that – learning to bake bread is the very first step in freeing ourselves from supermarket dependency! Michelle and I had a deep philosophical discussion about that yesterday.. ;-)
Thankyou for sharing such a great story. I like this theme of not simply offering an output as a gift, as wonderful as they always are from your home, but also offering knowledge and wisdom…. You also highlight what is one of the most enjoyable things about baking (probably cooking and craft in general) – developing style. A whole new flower….. Planting a seed in the communal garden…
Craig, isn’t it interesting how the same formula can result in completely different loaves when baked by different people? It’s one of the things that makes bread so glorious and allows bakers to truly stamp loaves as their own. Michelle’s loaves are baked in a gas oven, mine in a fan forced electric, she adds just a tiny bit more salt, makes slightly different judgments of when the dough is proved, shapes it just a little differently, and decides when it’s baked long enough, and voila! Suddenly her loaves are completely different to mine, and uniquely hers! :)
Michelle, what a star you are. My first loaves were awful, but I persevered, Celia, you’re a star too.
I have to teach my sister’s friend to make sourdough, as she’s through to the Great British Bake Off, and it’s her weaker area.
She’s keen, like you Michelle. Which takes away the challenge.
I have another lady who wants to learn, but can only spare an hour – so I haven’t really bothered. Aren’t I naughty.
Michelle really is a star, Grilly. :) And I’m with you – if you only have an hour spare, then you’re probably not all that interested.. ;-)
“I urge you to please notice when you are happy,
and exclaim or murmur or think at some point,
‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.'”
~Kurt Vonnegut
Just lovely Maz, thank you! :) xx
Such a gorgeous post Celia! What a lovely, generous and creative thing to do with your charming neighbour. The final result looks and sounds divine! Good luck with the sourdough!!
I’m sure she’ll master it just as well! She’s a fabulous student! :)
You are a darling. I wish I lived closer so we could share more. Speaking of which I have some Chestnut and Farro flour for you to play with. Wish you were closer as I said. x
Hon, we live pretty close already, actually! :) Come over when you’re free and grab stuff out of the garden! :)
You’re a good person, Celia – you have lucky neighbors.
Doc, you’re very kind, but actually I’m a lucky person, and I have good neighbours! :)
Now that is such a delightful story.. what is that saying, “If you teach a person to fish..” Well, you’ve created a bread baker extraordinaire!! Good for her to pick up something so quickly, she’s clearly a natural, but I think she had a Master Baker to show her how:) xx
Barb, she’s truly off and running! It’s so nice to see! :)
:D
Hell yes! Some people make it all worth while and spreading the bread love is one of the best activities I know ;)
Jo, I always love when we show people how to make bread, and they are surprised at how simple it actually is! xx
Ok – you have inspired me. I am doing this on the weekend. Fabulous.
You are so wonderful for sharing the joy. How lucky Michelle is to have you as a neighbour!
Vita
Vita, I hope you enjoy it! Once you start breadbaking, it’s hard to stop! :)
Hi Celia, I love reading your posts and this one is no exception. I’m going to try the gorgeous grainy loaf, but may I ask where to source the grains from. Probably a daft question, but I’m asking it anyway. Thanks for your blog. Sam
Sam, that’s not daft at all! :) I bought a bag of mixed grains at Harkola in Auburn, and Michelle soaked a handful of them overnight in water. Details about Harkola are here:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2009/09/24/harkola/
Thanks for reading our blog! :)
Celia
Another bread baker has been born! I love teaching people how to make their own bread. I had a student from South America last year who said her father was afraid she would never get married because she can’t cook. I taught her to make some sourdough bread in class. She took it home and her father called all her family declaring “She is getting married!”
All because she can make bread for the family now.
Making bread has so much meaning to so many people. You can taste the love in a homemade loaf.
Pamela, when I got married, I couldn’t cook a thing! :)
love this story celia..it’s the sort of thing that makes my heart sing..connecting through food and creating community..
Thanks Jane! We had great fun! Michelle now has a 12.5kg bag of bakers’ flour, and she’s off and running.. :)
I have been lurking on your site for about two years, without commenting. It has been great reading about your adventures, and those of your fellow bloggers that I have learnt about through your site. I have found the last two years quite difficult, and it has helped to read about your adventures. I decided at the end of 2012, that I would try to learn to bake bread in 2013, so I am particularly enchanted by this post. I would love to have you teach me! I have been trying a simple Nigel Slater recipe from his book “Appetite” which my children have enjoyed. My maternal grandparents’ parents and grandparents settled in Mudgee in the 19th century and I spend a lot of time there (although I really live in Sydney) so I always enjoy your Mudgee posts as well. Thank you so much.
Nelle, thank you for taking the time to leave such a kind comment – I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the blog! How fabulous that you’ve started baking bread! And Mudgee is absolutely gorgeous – we don’t get up there nearly often enough! :) Thanks again, and I hope 2013 is easier for you. Celia x