Playing With Dough

Last week, I decided I was going to learn bread making.  I've made bread the modern way-with a bread machine and it comes out just fine and yummy.  Real bread making involving kneading, rising and shaping, was always a thing in my mind for hyper ambitious homemakers and professional chefs.  I had always been told it was complicated and hard, and so it seemed-compared to dumping everything in a pan and pressing a button.

But I was feeling bored and hyper ambitious and looked it up.  Seemed doable, but time consuming and the good Lord knows I have plenty of that.  My first time the little bread bowls I made came out wonderful.  That's good because if I try something and it fails the first time I don't do it again.  A week and a few loaves later, I'm still doing it.  As I was kneading today, I wondered why I like making bread so much.  Sure I could fish up some deep theological conclusion like it's a subconscious reminder to me that Jesus is the bread of life or something like that.  And I did consider that, but it wasn't true.

It's therapeutic.  There's no scientific reason, it's just fun, relaxing, challenging, satisfying, stimulating, all those things and more and I surprise myself by taking it for more than face value.  It makes me happy, and I can't put my finger on why and I have no drive to figure it out.  If playing with dough and getting covered in flour refreshes my spirit then I'm not going to ask questions.  I'm just going to thank God and knead on.