Someone better call the Pope

Friends, you are about to behold a miracle.

Included in my ever-growing list of epic failures is bread making. I manage to botch this timeless process, which men, women and children have been doing effortlessly for CENTURIES without the assistance of fancy shmancy kitchen equipment, high-tech ovens, and bread makers that more or less do all the damn work for you, each time I get close to a packet of yeast.

I won't bore you with my endless failed attempts at this humble (and utterly maddening until yesterday) staple, but the bread I produced in past attempts looked and tasted like hockey pucks -- round, callous and inedible. I have resigned myself to the fact, as I've mentioned, that I can't bake. I've always wished, though, that I could bake bread. I could give a hoot about cakes and pastries.

The recipe I found is from a lovely site called Honey and Jam. Wow, is her site lovely. I have food blog envy. And baking envy. And photography envy. Her name is Hannah. We have the H thing in common. Holy Hannah, do I love this woman's site. You will, too, and you will love her NO KNEAD bread recipe. Just promise to come back to Hail's Kitchen after you visit Honey and Jam. Promise?

I made a sandwich on this bread for lunch today (a sun-dried tomato pesto and mozzarella samwhich, which you'll see later this week), and it was scrumptious. It was made even better knowing that the bread was from my very own kitchen, my little Hail's Kitchen.

My case of the Mondays evaporated when I bit into that homemade bread. Friends, please, make this bread. Do it for me. It was so easy and so fun and so REWARDING!

By the way, no fax machines were harmed this morning. I did glare at it as I walked to my desk.

Here's the link to Honey and Jam's gorgeous site and the no knead bread recipe.

It has RISEN!

Pretty, eh?

Like no hockey puck I've ever seen.

It crackled for about ten minutes.

Can you smell its awesomeness?!

This was the best part.