the waiting is the hardest part (thank you, Tom Petty)

Danielle: How long did it take to make that bread?
Me: It’s about a 3 hour process.
Danielle: Woah.
Me: Yeah. The waiting is the hardest part.

Waiting for bread to rise can literally take hours. You put in all this work up front, softening the yeast, warming the milk and butter, mixing the egg, spices and honey, stirring it together, adding flour and kneading the dough. Then you put it in a bowl near a warm, cozy space* and you wait. Some recipes give concrete timelines like, "Place in bowl and let rise for 1-1/2 hours." Other recipes leave room for interpretation and intuition like, "Place in bowl and let rise until the dough has doubled in size." No matter what the instructions say, there is going to be some waiting involved. And, if waiting for the dough to rise is not bad enough, you also have to consider the waiting involved while the bread is baking.

Waiting for bread to rise and then bake is hard because there is no going back. You are committed. You have set these things in motion and you can’t turn around to add forgotten ingredients or revive slow-growing—or possibly dead—yeast. Your only option is to see it through to the end or give up on it completely.** Giving up is rarely worth it unless you are absolutely sure the end is doomed. Sticking with it, on the other hand, is bound to yield an edible product, but has the possibility to be even greater: delicious—loved, admired and consumed by all.

I like to think that the aroma of the dough rising and baking is the fragrance of hope for what the dough could become. It sneaks its way into every corner of the house softly proclaiming, "Hey! There’s something delicious in the making! Just smell it! It is practically the definition of goodness." The smell is comforting and inviting. It invokes anticipation for something even better than itself.

God gives us signs of hope to keep us working and yearning for his kingdom to come in its entirety. The first time around, with little baby Jesus, we had some pretty concrete examples: Zechariah, Elizabeth and John, Joseph and Mary, wise men and shepherds. This time around, we have to look a little harder. But hope is here, living among us. And when I run into tragedy and grief and have trouble finding our friend hope, I bake bread and remember that there is a promise that is to be fulfilled. All the blind will receive their site, all the lame will walk, all who are sick will be healed, all who are deaf will hear, all the dead shall be raised and the good news will be all that we know.

"You take in on faith, take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part"
--Tom Petty


*Although most people choose to put the dough in a warm oven (about 150F) or on top of the stove while the oven is preheating, my mom fully embraced the warming powers of an electric blanket. No joke.

**Advanced bakers and food scientists have figured out a way to put the whole process on pause (this usually requires freezing, but you still can’t really reverse the process.


Recipe for Honey Bread

Ingredients:
1 pkg of yeast (or 2-1/4 tsp)
¼ warm water
1 cup milk
¼ cup butter
1 egg
½ cup honey
1 tbsp coriander
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cloves
1 tsp salt
4 ½ cups flour

extra butter for bottom of baking pans


Directions:
1. Soften the yeast in ¼ cup warm water. Set aside for 5 minutes.
2. Heat milk and butter to lukewarm on stove.
3. Mix together all remaining ingredients EXCEPT flour.
4. Add milk and butter to the honey mixture. Mix well.
5. Add yeast. Mix well.
6. Add the flour 1 cup at a time, using a spoon (or a Kitchenaid if you’re lucky!) to mix evenly.
7. The dough will be too sticky to knead on a cutting board or counter. Just use a spoon (or that KitchenAid with a dough hook) and push the dough back and forth for about 10 minutes.
8. Set aside in a warm, cozy place. Either in a warm oven at 150F or on top of the stove while it is preheating to 300F.
9. Once the dough has doubled in size (about 1 ½ hours), punch it (literally) and mix it again to get out the air bubbles.
10. Divide the dough in ½. Form into 2 round loaves. Place in two 8” cake pans with melted butter in the bottom (trust me…this is the delicious part).
11. Bake at 300F for 1 hour.