Bread-Making, Marion's Lazy Way

Just before dinner yesterday, Charles said, "Uh-oh; we're out of bread".  No problem.  A few minutes later, I put 2 cups of warm water in a large bowl, tossed in some yeast (about a tablespoon full, more or less) and the same amount of sugar, and covered the bowl.  Then I sat down to eat.



After dinner, I beat two cups of whole wheat flour and a teaspoonful of salt into the water, making it the consistency of pancake batter.  Then, I covered it and left it for an hour or two, when I stirred in a cup or so of white flour.  By then, it was a sticky dough, too thick to stir easily. 

Another hour later, I dumped it out onto a small pile of white flour, maybe another cupful. 

I kneaded it for three or four minutes, using lots of flour because it was so sticky.  Then I put it back into the bowl, moved the bowl into a cool spot near a window, and went to bed.  If you added the time I spent on it all together, it would total about ten minutes during the evening.

This morning, while I was waiting for my coffee to be ready, I formed the bread dough into a loaf and put it near the stove to rise.  By the time I had to go milk, it was nicely risen and the oven was hot.  I put it in the oven for a few minutes, then covered it loosely with tinfoil and went out to the barn.  When I came in, I took out our fresh, hot breakfast loaf.  Pretty lazy, huh?