Well, i've already mentioned (again and again) the workboxing paradigm :) - it's working, it's helping, it's keeping us going and doing more than we have before...

but the other thing that is making it work this year is a recipe :)

My mother in law had photocopied this recipe for me from out of the Mother Earth News Dec 08/Jan 09 issue - it's  from a book called "Artisan Bread in Five MInutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois (which i totally want!)

I won't type out the whole thing, but there are a few tweaks to this recipe that make it *work* for me... so i'll add those in.

But first, the easy part - the recipe :)

The Master Recipe:

3 c. lukewarm water

1 1/2 Tbsp granulated yeast

1 1/2 Tbsp coarse, kosher, or sea salt

6 1/2 c. flour

cornmeal for pizza peel

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Now, i went out and bought a stone to cook this on in my oven, and i fill the roasting pan with water during the cooking process - so those are *things* that you might want to use...

Now, here's (in very brief, since my fingers are cold and my sweet T is starting to ask if it's bed time...) the technique.

In a mixer, i put those first four ingredients.  Mix it up!  You don't need to let it knead - just mix it and you're done!  Then scoop it out into an ice cream pail (I double this usually and make two ice cream pails full of batter).

It's a very wet dough - use water to keep it from sticking really badly to your hands!

Next - let it sit on the counter for at least 2 hours, covered loosely.  You can leave it longer if you've got something to do - it won't hurt it at all.  Then, put the dough in your fridge (i've got one in my garage i use for extras and for bread :)...)

On baking day - just pull out your ice cream pail, and prepare your pizza peel (or your plastic cutting board, which is what i use.  Sprinkle on the cornmeal, form the dough into a grapefruit size lump (it is easier to work with when it's been refrigerated).  Use a little flour on your hands to keep it from sticking too badly, and just stretch the dough on all four corners underneat to make it smooth on top. Place the ball on the pizza peel - let it rest uncovered for about 40 minutes. 

About 20 min before baking, preheat oven to 450 degrees and put the stone in the oven and the roasting pan.

Dust the tops of the loaves (this recipe makes four, so i do four at a time usually) - with flour, then slash them to help them expand during baking.

Slide the loaf(s) onto the baking stone, and quickly pour about a cup of water into the roasting pan, then close the door to trap the steam.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until the crust is browned and firm.

Take it out and slice 'er up for lunch... mmmmm!

The rest of the dough can go back into the fridge - the older it gets, the tangier the bread - i like to leave some in the pail when i fill it up with a new batch to get that nice taste.  The dough can also be frozen in 1 lb portions and defrosted overnight in the fridge prior to baking day - but i tend to do the quickest, easiest way - and for me, this is a quick lunch and an easy hit with the littles...

Extra bonus points - you can use this dough for a quick pizza crust or cinnamon buns!