English Muffin Bread recipe disaster

Today’s post was going to be about BREAD. Instead it is about a bread disaster and how to recover from one. I have had a hankering to make English Muffins ever since I visited with my Aunt in Tennessee and we ate English muffins for breakfast – I had forgotten how tasty they were. I found a recipe online for English muffins but it honestly seemed like a royal pain. Then I found a little recipe in my tried and true Better Homes & Gardens cookbook for English Muffin Bread that seemed more do-able. First things first, it was off to Kroger for any missing ingredients. Then back to Publix the next day because I still missed an ingredient (stupid cornmeal). Next up was to unload and reload the dishwasher and get set up for shenanigans. In French this is called “Mise en Place” – English translation – get your S%*! in order.

I am not bothering to write the recipe because this thing was one hot mess! I very carefully followed the recipe and the dough looked a little wet, but I did some googling and determined that was to be anticipated. Or so I thought. I set the timer for the dough to proof and checked on it about 30 minutes in. What I found was an explosion of dough (see 4th picture). I am a stubborn gal, so I threw some flour on my counter and dumped my blobs of dough into it. I kneaded and added more flour and reshaped the dough into baguettes. They were still a mess, but by golly I baked those bad boys. They weren’t attractive but did taste like English muffins…and I may make another attempt at some later date, once I’ve recovered from this disaster. Actually I know I will, because I am the kind of gal who wants to improve.

On a side note (and as proof that I do know how to make bread), I thought I’d share a little bit more about me. Years ago Amanda (my sister in law) and I created a lovely little bakery in Macon Georgia called Bread & Buddies. We lasted 3 years and were in 2 restaurants, 3 Krogers and had our own storefront. It was incredibly hard work, but fun. Plus there were some major positives that came out of my time in Macon. While there, I got to live with my sister in an adorable renovated Victorian cottage. She and I adopted Speedy (nee Roger), the smartest dog I’ve known. Speedy was returned 8 or 9 times (I’m sure it was because he was bossy and had quite the bark on him), but he found his forever home with us. I’ll save a post about Speedy for another day.

Moral of the story – trust your gut…and be prepared to improvise!