Mistakes, Mistakes, Mistakes.....

Last week I don't think anything went right. It was odd really, not much went incredibly wrong but everything was slightly off. There seemed to be a slight skew to everything I attempted. Well, almost everything.. It was also the week of the HUGE bread....

I have mentioned before my insane love for all things dealing with King Arthur flour... I love their products, their website, their recipes. So, last week I made yet another batch of their crusty white bread. It is a simple no fail recipe. Have I mentioned yet that last week was slightly skewed??

Slightly skewed UNTIL I attempted this recipe. For some bizarre reason I doubled the yeast. I have no idea why! I looked at the recipe and promptly doubled the yeast... Now, this wouldn't have been such an issue if I had a mixing bowl big enough to double the entire recipe and still fit on my Kitchenaid. I doubled the water, the salt no problem but when I doubled the yeast (in a bit of a hurry so I could still get to work ,) the Kitchenaid promptly threw a good portion of it right back out of the bowl.

So here I am throwing flour in as fast as the Kitchenaid can throw it out. I finally decided it must be about right so I removed it to let it rise. It rose and rose. All the way up the side of my pan, and the 2 hours weren't even up yet! In an act of utter desperation I shoved the whole thing into the refrigerator hoping to salvage it.

Hours later I came home from work to find bread spilling out of the bowl and all over the butter and cream cheese. This should have spurred me into action. I should have attacked with scrapers and soap and washcloths.... But no. I was frozen. For days I would look in awe at this creature that had invaded my refrigerator. I kept thinking the cold would conquer all, that this growing mass would shrink and disappear, a bit like a child with their eyes closed thinking since they can't see you, you must not be able to see them.

The mass was so unmanageable, so sticky, so frightening, I must confess I wasted the whole batch. It took me days to finally overcome my fear and tackle the mess. I have finally won the battle, and tomorrow I am tackling that recipe again. Say it with me now... Do NOT double the yeast.... Do NOT double the yeast...