Written by Here’s a quick little doodlewash of some bread, because today is Homemade Bread Day! This is another holiday with no traceable owner, but it’s a delicious idea so who really cares.
For this one, I decided to do a nearly monochrome painting with only two colors: Neutral Tint & Burnt Sienna. Not sure why, necessarily, just wanted to see what it would look like. And this is what happened.
Bread is one of those much-maligned foods that never quite rebounded from the nation’s carb phobia. Thankfully, Philippe is French, so there’s no fear of bread in our house.
If I were told I could not have real bread (not the stuff in plastic with all the corn syrup), it would actually make me cry because I love bread! Particularly with a bowl of olive oil, pepper, and salt to dip it in.
When I was a kid though…it was all about the stuff in plastic. Particularly Wonder Bread which was appropriately named as you have to wonder why there are 29 ingredients in a single slice of really white bread. Turns out they’re mostly chemicals that aren’t truly safe to digest, but not so noticeably unsafe to immediately require companies to stop feeding them to us.
But the super cool part about this artificial bread, beyond the paranormal shelf life, was the ability to turn it back into pure dough. Squeezing the bread into a ball would turn it into a wet lump of unbaked dough. As a kid, this was so cool…like being able to eat the equivalent of raw cookie dough, something your mom wouldn’t usually allow.
With a few slices you could make a nice-sized dough ball you could eat like a jawbreaker. This is infinitely grotesque to think about doing now, but back then, it was a magical good time. Of course, the brown crusts had to be sacrificed in the process, but no self-respecting kid ever really liked those anyway.
But today, it’s all about delicious, chemical-free homemade bread. It won’t make a satisfying dough ball after it’s baked, but on the bright side, it tastes much better and is far healthier to consume. The only daunting step for some, myself included, will be actually baking bread yourself. In this case, you’ll just have to charm the pants off a baker or persuade one who already happens to love you to bake some for you.
I can certainly participate in the bread day celebration….I love bread!! Your doodle wash bread looks very tasty.
Excellent!! So glad to know you’re also a bread fan Sharon. 💕😃I really couldn’t live without it! Lol 😊
I try to stay away from white carb so most days, I don’t eat bread. But I do love to make challah occasionally. I used to make it every Friday with the kids for Shabbat but as they got older, I stopped making it every week. I was laughing when I read your wonder bread comment as I used to squeeze the slices into balls. I’m amazed you only used two colors! Looks great!
Thanks Kari!! ❤️😃 I love challah!! But then I love all kinds of bread. It really is a guilty pleasure. Carbs be damned!! 😊😊
How perfect! I made 3 loaves – 2 of the no-knead artisan by hand, and one a light honey sandwich loaf by bread machine – just yesterday and worked on one today for breakfast…though that’s not a surprise. We eat bread (hubby is a huge Vegemite on toast fan). You might want to try making the no-knead artisan bread. It is SO easy. It only has 4 ingredients: water, salt, yeast, and flour. I make 2-4 loaves every week. I used to make baguettes a lot (Philippe would love that!) but got away from it for some reason. And I always make our own burger and hot dog buns. I can’t abide store-bought bread anymore. Your loaf is beeeeyoootiful! xo
Yum!!! That all sounds delicious Teresa!! ❤️😃 Philippe makes awesome bread, but we don’t have it very often. There’s a local baker that delivers fresh bread to the grocery so we usually end up with that. But I still prefer the homemade kind…it’s soooo good!! 😃
Plus then your house smells amazing if you bake it yourself! 😋
I’m going to have to sweet talk Philippe into baking some this weekend!! 😊hehe
Yes! 😀
I could live on bread. Do you do a thick cut version? Just asking.
Jean-Paul
Hehe…I supposed I could do any version at all as long as it’s in doodlewash. I don’t think you’d enjoy my baking! 😳lol
I am addicted to baked goods, bread especially, so I say YUM to Homemade Bread Day. Hubby actually has a bread maker stored in a closet around here somewhere. Maybe I need to dig it out and get him baking!
Yeah…you need dig that out and out him to work! Lol 😉👍🏻 Or just pack it up and send it to us!! Bread is awesome!!!! 💕💕💕
I think it’s buried behind the coats in the hall closet. It would be easier just to find a good bakery!
Yeah… sounds too hard… definitely go with the bakery plan! 👍🏻😉
That’s a tasty looking loaf, buddy.
Hehe…thanks Kirk! It’s the only way I could ever possibly bake!
Oh, that’s superb – I can practically smell it!!
Fear of bread? I wouldn’t go without the stuff and I would most definitely miss that smell. I admit it’s been terribly long since I made my own, though. Other people make cooking look so darn easy!
Until I was about three, there used to be a bakery near home and I would go in there and get cute miniature loaves for nothing. They were better than their (ludicrously expensive) cakes! I think this is where my unending love affair with bread began.
Yes! A bakery is the best! I miss Paris, because when we’re there there’s always a bakery on every corner! Philippe makes awesome bread, but me… yeah… I’m not really good at cooking anything. I better stick to doodlewashing instead! 😊hehe
That does sound good! It used to be a similar story around here: bakers, butchers, sweet shops… but of course many have fallen victim to the gargantuan supermarkets.
Your doodlewashes surely make up for it – they’re more appetising than my cooking!
That’s really cool then! Glad I could help! 😉👍🏻lol
We used to make those Wonder Bread balls too…it is gross to think of it now, but I always knew the bread was worthless as food. I would trade my lunch sandwiches (margarine and bologna on Wonder Bread, I gag to even think of it) for real food–a bag of Cheetos perhaps. (K)
Haha!! That’s awesome, Kerfe! I used to ride in a summer school carpool with a guy who smelled liked Cheetos, so that sort of put me off those. And ham and butter sandwiches are what I eat a lot when I’m stopping at convenience stores in Paris. 😊 Not bologna, but close enough in concept. For some reason it’s less gross when I eat it there. Hehe
I always thought butter sandwiches was a Midwest thing (my parents are from Ohio). But of course my mother couldn’t use real butter! I forget whether it was too expensive or bad for us. Probably too expensive…we ate enough chemicals as children to last several lifetimes.
It was probably the cost! The fake stuff is also chemicals, but my mom did that too. Hehe… You’d think after all of those we’d just be “well preserved” 😉
That would have been a nice bonus.
Oh goodness – Wonder bread balls are new to me! 🙂 But homemade bread – now we are talking! You totally make me want to bake some bread – but it is closing in on 11pm after a long day (had to actually go into town for meetings) LOL! Maybe tomorrow. Hope your travels were safe! Cheers to red wine and some good bread!
Yeah…I agree there’s nothing better than homemade bread. But it’s closing time for your kitchen it sounds like…hehe…you can always celebrate tomorrow! 😉 Made it back home just fine, only an hour late, which I count as a success! Hehe Thanks Jodi! ❤️😃Oh and definitely wine with the bread and olive oil…that’s just required!! 😉
I’ve made bread (plain and melon pan) before and it’s quite a chore, but was worth it. If only bread didn’t take so long to rise I would bake it more.
Yeah…bread doesn’t quite have that immediate gratification of other treats because of that. But the taste makes it worth it! (This coming from someone who only tastes bread, though, and can’t bake it! 😊😊lol)
Your bread looks delish, yum 😄 I too remember squishing bread into dough balls many years ago! I love a homemade loaf but can pass on the pre packed sliced stuff, it’s a poor imitation of real bread in my opinion. I bought a bread machine a couple of years ago which is great but unfortunately recently got carried away with adding seeds and grains to my loaves. This was a big mistake as chewing on it I broke a tooth in half. I go to the bakers for bread nowadays, much cheaper than dental work!!!
Oh no!! You broke a tooth on bread?! That is bad! 😳 But definitely agree as an adult that the sliced and packed stuff is not really bread at all. I wish we had a bakery close to us, but they’re less common in the States sadly.
Yep, one of the grains in it broke my back tooth clean in half and it took three trips to the dentist to get it fixed 😬 Luckily we have a bakery in our village!
Yikes! Well glad to hear it’s all fixed up now. 😃And that there’s a tooth-friendly bakery nearby! Hehe
ha ha. i never did the wonder bread trick. i guess i was deprived as a child. thats a very nice bread art for using only two colors!
It’s not to late!! Haha! You could go pick up a bag today and try it! Just don’t eat it…😝 And thanks!! So happy you liked the doodlewash! 😃
Oh what a lovely loaf a bread, count me in! I too love a hearty loaf of bread and your painting makes me really want a slice!
Hehe! Yay! Another bread lover! Thanks Cathe!! 💕💕😃
Nice job as always, Charlie. I could survive on just home made bread. this looks like olive bread to me which is one of my favorites.
I think it could be…sort of…I used a few references since I didn’t have any bread! We ate it all!! 😊😊lol
Painting is great, Charlie! Gluten made me sick for years (without my knowledge or consent!) but there are some wonderful gluten free breads out there that taste better than the ones I used to knead and bake myself! (Food for life Brown Rice bread in the pink bag of the frozen foods section, in case anyone cares, was my favorite until I went grain free – also for health, not by choice lol!) Two colors and very realistic – really love the painting! Have a good week!
Yay! I love seeing your lovely comment pop up again sis!! ❤️❤️😃 Thanks!! I had fun with this one and the weird restrictions I placed on myself for fun. Hehe… Oh no though! Sorry you were forced into involuntary bread removal. But there are Sooo many yummy alternatives now, so that’s a good thing. 😃👍🏻 My friend has a blog at adventuresomekitchen.com with gluten-free ideas as well! Hope you have a great week too! 💕💜❤️
Your painting makes me hungry for a sandwich Charlie! There are so many artisan breads available now, we are so fortunate to have such a healthier selection. ❤️😄 With bread I like a little wine and cheese! 😃🍞🍷
Wine and cheese is the perfect compliment Jill! Yay! ❤️😃🍷And truly… the chemical-free bread is pretty good stuff so I say lets all have a slice or three! We also like a nice baguette with French fondue! 😊😊hehe
Yum! I love fondue! 😊