I know that today is supposed to be the most miserable day of the year - something I'm trying very hard not to succumb to ( despite the fact that it's still dark at 9am and pissing down - and I just fell over the open oven door - cutting my leg open and dropping a full mug of scalding tea all over myself ) - but there is one thing I have to get off my chest.
Bread, fucking bread... a basic foodstuff that we all need - and yet is so SHIT and EXPENSIVE.
I won't eat white bread, despite the fact you can get a loaf from the COOP for 20p - but if you want a decent loaf you have to pay almost £2. Forget the £7 gallon - two fucking quid for a loaf of bread!
Every time I try and buy something cheaper it's a mistake. I bought a £1.50 loaf of Warburtons and it's a flaccid, horrible loaf that toasts really badly - is dry and rough and the crust always comes away in the toaster - rubbish. How can it be so bloody hard to produce decent bread at a decent price. It had no substance and when you try and cut it into soldiers, half have to be rejected because they fall to pieces - and as soon as you dunk into a runny egg - half gets left behind.
I'm going to write an angry letter to David Cameron... I bet his bread is always always nice.
11 comments:
I tend to bite the bullet and buy the £1.80 {I am in Leeds) loaf but the only other solution is making it yourself. This recipe:: http://www.mcallester.com/recipes.php?id=7
seemed a relatively easy and successful method, providing you keep the mix warm overnight. I ended up replacing a low energy light bulb with an old hot one so the mix did not stop growing. Think I found it recommended by another UK blogger but cannot remember who. However it does involve contact with the dangerous oven door !
I've considered it - but life is too short and complex to bake bread - also I have a very small kitchen full of potential hazzards - best to stay out if at all possible.
I threw financial caution to the wind last month and bought a Panasonic breadmaker. I now use it every day and the bread is gorgeous - I never knew that bread could be so nice.
I have a very small kitchen too, but it's been worthwhile making the room.
Re: cost - the machine will have paid for itself by Easter (I'm saving more than £5 a week).
At the moment I'm only making basic loaves, with a mixture of white and wholemeal, plus salt, sugar, yeast and vegetable oil. I'll become more adventurous later.
Preparing the mix takes me no more than two minutes, then I set the timer and the loaf is ready when I get up. I love it.
home made wholewheat soda bread, really easy, quick and delicious!
you people live very different lives to mine....( sobs )
Perhaps we (or certainly I) just don't have dogs !
I, too, have a bread maker which, since I moved I've strangely not used. However, all of the above is right and setting it to cook in the night to proved warm, fresh bread in the morning is a joy. Mind you, I grew to dislike the size/shape of the loaves so ended up using it to make dough and then I conventionally baked rolls from it.
Sometimes I make bread, but mostly I buy Vogel Soya & Linseed, which is about £1.50. It gives a dense, nutty chew and feels like value for money. I've tried lots of other breads but this is our favourite. It makes great toast, too.
Vogel's is good!
They don't sell Vogels up here - if they did, I'd buy it - it's lovely.
We got our breadmaker off Freecycle and it's brilliant. So easy; so far everything we've tried has come out perfectly. The only problem is it's TOO nice to last long! Also having a small kitchen, we keep it in the dining room where we used to have a hamster cage... sometimes when it starts making noises I get confused and forget it's not a hamster...
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