Have you checked out my newest blog, Culinary Snapshot? I hope you will come on over, have a look, and submit your before/after photos! Check out the “behind the scenes” for this photo of Rosemary Focaccia.)

I have always had a love for writing. When I was in 3rd grade my teacher, Mrs Callahan, noticed that I had an interest in writing and gave me the encouragement I needed to want to be better at it. When I was younger, I would spend my summers typing on the typewriter, creating a family newspaper called “The Wogan Word” (Wogan is my maiden name). In high school, it was Mr. Ybarra who told me that I had talent and helped guide me to become a better writer.  My plans, for as long as I can remember, were to major in journalism once I went to college.

All it took was one teacher and one very memorable experience to knock me down and change my plans for the future. It was my senior year of high school and “Mrs H” was a full-time substitute in our honors English class. The assignment that would stop my dreams of a journalism degree in its tracks was to write a letter to a spaceship of Aliens telling them how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, I wrote my letter and turned it in. The next day in class, “Mrs H” chose to use my paper as an example. She had me stand up and read my paper in front of the class. Apparently I did the assignment all wrong, and as I read, “Mrs H” began following my instructions, dramatically overstating each mistake I made. It was humiliating, I was humiliated and I lost my confidence and love for writing after that one simple assignment. I went on to major in Human Resources in college and completely changed the course of my professional future.

After a very long hiatus from writing pretty much anything, I began writing again a few years ago. I started first with a journal and then began blogging. Soon after, I was hired by a few places to begin writing for them. I began to let the thoughts of that nasty teacher and her rude comments dissolve in my mind and re-acquainted myself to my love of writing.

Bread baking was a similar experience for me. The first two batches of bread I ever made were awful. I clearly remember the second batch, which were clover leaf dinner rolls, turning out hard as a rock. Even our dog wouldn’t eat them. Luckily, I wasn’t as “fragile” as I was back in high school when I made my first two batches of bread. I continued to try until I got it right. The result is that my family is so spoiled now by all of my homemade bread that often times partially eaten loaves will go to waste.

If you have had a bad experience making homemade bread, don’t let a couple of failed attempts keep you from trying again. A great type of bread to help build up your confidence with is Focaccia. It is one of those breads that is quick to put on the table, easy to handle, and great to make. If you have given up on bread baking, dust off your apron and try again. Hopefully all it will take is one successful attempt and you will find out how much you love baking bread.

Rosemary Focaccia (from Cooking Light)

I actually used my bread machine to make the dough for the Rosemary Focaccia. Following the order of my ABM, I put the ingredients in and allowed the dough cycle to do all of the work!

1 1/4 cups boiling water
3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary, divided
1 tablespoon honey
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon water
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

Combine boiling water, 1 teaspoon rosemary, and honey in a large bowl; cool to 100° to 110°. Sprinkle yeast over honey mixture; let stand 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 3 1/4 cups flour, 2 tablespoons oil, and 1 teaspoon salt to honey mixture, stirring to form a soft dough. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel sticky).

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down. Pat dough into a 14 x 12-inch rectangle on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 20 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350º.

Uncover dough. Make indentations in top of dough using handle of a wooden spoon or your fingertips. Combine 1 tablespoon oil, 1 teaspoon water, and egg yolk; brush over dough. Drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon oil; sprinkle with remaining rosemary and sea salt.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pan; cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 14 servings

CALORIES 166 (25% from fat); FAT 4.6g (sat 0.7g,mono 3g,poly 0.6g); IRON 1.7mg; CHOLESTEROL 15mg; CALCIUM 9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 27.1g; SODIUM 335mg; PROTEIN 3.9g; FIBER 1.1g

Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

The post Keep Trying (Recipe: Rosemary Focaccia Bread) appeared first on Dine and Dish.

It is official everyone… I have baby fever.

I know! You thought after this incident, that baby fever wouldn’t hit again, didn’t you? Reading through that post from that awful day, I am honestly amazed by it myself. Then you thought, “Oh, her kids are getting a bit older now, things are running fairly smoothly these days… she can get out of the house without a diaper bag full of the necessities for a newborn. She gets to sleep through the night… no nursing sessions every 2 hours each and every day. Why would she want to add another baby into the mix to just cause chaos in her already semi-chaotic world?” Yeah, exactly. You are so right. I should listen to you more often.

But, you know what, it is still there and it isn’t going away.

A special thanks for starting this whole fever goes out to you, you, you and you know what… I’m even blaming you a bit just because my Ella was born on the same day as Shiloh, and here you are going and having more babies. It also doesn’t help matters that Ella is at about the cutest stage of life ever… well, minus the humongous fits and incredibly strong personality… she really is doing some adorable things these days. Really, she is… trust me.

There was a reason we have been getting rid of all of our baby stuff the second Ella grows out of it… my husband is 100%, completely and totally happy to have three kids. It is probably a good thing he doesn’t read my blog or I imagine I would be padlocked away in a room somewhere until I reached menopause.

Tomorrow, I am sure I’ll change my mind. Someone will puke on my head, we will have a grocery store meltdown, or even worse… the children will eat all the bread that I made and I won’t get a single bite. Oh, wait! That did happen. In fact, it happend tonight with my little bambino loaf of Challah bread. I took the bread out of the oven, had one tiny nibble while it was still hot (because I personally can’t contain myself when it comes to waiting for bread to cool), left for a two hour meeting and came back to no bread. Not even a single crumb. Hubby placed blame on the kids, which I am not completely buying, but I do bet those little selfish creatures had a lot to do with it.

Well, guess what. Baby fever is officially out the window. I can share my body, I can share my life… I can even get through diaper bags, 2am feedings, grocery store meltdowns, puking on the head, etc., but I draw the line at sharing food with one more person in this family. So, back off baby thoughts, the next loaf is mine. All mine.

Ahhhh, you like homemade bread, do you? Check out these tasty recipes from other bloggers around the blogosphere:

• Fresh Tomato and Basil Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread, from Farmgirl Fare
• No Knead Bread, from Steamy Kitchen
• Rustic Bread, from The Fresh Loaf
• Irish Soda Bread, from Closet Cooking
• Caramelized Onion Bread, from One Hot Stove

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