Becoming an enthusiast! | The Fresh Loaf

Good evening folks,

For those of you who have been baking bread for a couple of years, was it addictive in the beginning? I find myself wanting to sneak out of bed in the middle of the night just to bake a crusty loaf of French Bread. It seems rediculous, but I am entirely captured by this simple, yet complex phenomenon called bread making! Has anyone ever felt the same way?

Thanks, Chuppy

that's why we are all here! I'm become a bit obsessive-compulsive, baking 3-4 loaves for 2 people, just because I have to try a new recipe..or to bake the perfect sourdough (still in the works). Pictures of beautiful loaves send me searching for the recipe. My co-workers are very happy with my obsession : )

Why else would I buy a 50 pound bag of flour? hehehehehe If my husband didn't enjoy eating the bread so much, he would think I was completely nuts. Relax and enjoy it!

Susan

It was addictive in the beginning and still is after all these years. Now that I've found this site it's even more so...and a lot more fun than ever. I'm baking for two people and I have to make myself stop after baking way too much bread. I give lots away but sometimes there is still too much. You're right about the pictures Paddyscake, I love them. weavershouse

I've reached the point that I get quite bummed out if there's not a bowl full of risen dough waiting on the counter to play with in the morning. I've started giving it away to everyone who will accept it. So far they've all said yes a second time...

As obsessions go, this seems a pretty healthy one, on all sorts of levels!

edh

maybe its because it is one of the only comfortable insanities left for us to do. If I am not making bread, I'm thinking of what I am going to try next.

It does seem addictive doesn't it? Our friends and family love it and I don't have to think to hard about what to take to dinner at friends. The more I learn the more satisfying it is. I'm not getting the sleep I should since I seem to enjoy prowling the kitchen after the family has retired.

Eric

EXACTLY my problem......good problem!

something to take care of that hopefully will make you proud in the broader world when it grows up... I often have the nagging feeling that the dough needs tending, even when there isn't any. And, Chuppy, you ask if it was addictive in the beginning, as if you thought there might still be hope for you...

I'm going to go way out on a limb here. I think I have detected a professional connection that has previously gone unnoticed. I would be willing to bet that there are a lot of IT folks in this group, either themselves or spouses. Some how related to the computer biz on a technical level. I'll fess up, I'm a network security and support consultant and confessed geek.

Anyone else??

I do tech PR and was previously a tech journalist (though I couldn't write a lick of C++ if my life depended on it). That count?

physics and comp sci student, that ought to count haha.

Only by marriage, but perhaps it rubs off...

My husband is a Systems Engineer who has worked in telecom and is currently doing SE for companies wanting to move to integrated applications such as SOA.

Susan

I've got a liberal arts degree, but I'm definitely a geek. PHP, Perl, MySQL, etc. Putting this site together was, in part, an opportunity for me to test some of my theories on how to manage online communities. It has also a good technology sandbox.

Floyd,

I liked JMonkey's title best. I should have started this in a separate forum. I bet this will turn out interesting to read. Any chance you could move the posts over to another new forum thread?

Eric

Moving the comments to a new thread isn't impossible, but it isn't trivial, and I'm really not feeling like spending my Friday night monkeying w/ a database. Let's just roll with it here.

Floyd,

I knew better than to ask. It is getting interesting how many are IT compliant.

Eric

Eric,

Guilty, too. EE-CS degrees, Intel, HP-Labs, HP PC division, then banking business - high tech trading - lots of software, parallel processing algorithms, and systems stuff. Now retired, but then got into development of an online collaboration system for our kids' recreational soccer league here in our town and a neighboring town. Also, back yard wireless networks to all my neighbors, crazy audio projects, got too involved in my kids' school science projects, and other horribly geeky pursuits. Acquired a terrible malady (you know me, browndog5) - "science bread syndrome".

Bill

all of a sudden I feel like I'm swimming with sharks . Parallel processing algorithims? My eyes are crossing. I didn't even get 'connected' until last September, and that was only because there's a teenager in the house. Techno-peasant, isn't that the term?

The nice thing about these sharks is that they don't bite anything other than fresh homemade bread. I let my son handle my computer problems and show me tricks. I like baking for ... does getting up at 4 this morning to play with my waiting sourdough count as enthusiastic? :) Mini Oven

LOL, I'm an exceedingly tame shark, browndog5. Just surviving like everyone else - maybe even enjoying a moment or two in the sun, if I'm allowed out. My glory days are behind me now, but life is good.

Bill