Bread of Second Changes

As many of you know, I am part of a fellowship called the Hospitality House. I promise to blog on just the House in the next week or so since I have never done this.

Anyway, I cook most Friday nights for the House. This past Friday, I made some beef stroganof and Idiot bread. Idiot bread has the name Idiot bread because it is so easy to make that an idiot can make it.

Well, I have tried to make it one other time and was not totally sucessful. It basically never rose like is was suppose to and it was too brown on the bottom.

So I figured I would make it this past Friday...determined to be sucessful...I mean, I should be able to sucessfully make Idiot bread...I like to think of myself as a pretty smart girl.

Anyway, this past Friday...attempt two. It was going so good. I made a larger recipe this time since last time it barely covered the bottom of the pan. The dough is suppose to rise for about an hour. After about 20 minutes, it had already risen so that it was to the top of the pan. So I go over and sort of punch the air out of it to make it smaller (not that I was suppose to...it was just getting a bit too large). After it rises you are suppose to pour about 2 cups of melted butter on the top. Hence the concern for how high it was rising. I needed to be able to pour butter on the top!

The hour is up. The bread has risen to the top of the pan. So I punch it down again, pour the melted butter on top and place it in the oven.

Obviously I don't make bread often. I figured it was done rising. Not true. It has been in the oven 5-10 minutes when smoke is just coming out from the oven. I quickly open to oven to find flames. I turn of the gas and the flames go out. The bread had risen some more so that two cups of melted butter has basically spilled to the bottom of the oven creating the fuel for the fire. Good times.

I am not daunted by this. I debate if I should give up or keep baking this bread. Well I decide to stick another pan under the bread to catch any butter that spills over and I turn the oven back on to finish the baking process. I keep an eye on it at first. Things look good. No fire. I am a genius!

Not really. The smoking oven happens again. So I open the oven door and turn of the gas. Only this time the flames (and large ones) keep burning. So we discuss what to do. At this time I inform those around me that salt kills flames. Rather than just grab the salt to put the fire out...I talk about how it puts flames out almost instantly. Well it does not take me long to actually grab the salt and attempt to throw it on the flames. Someone else has grabbed the fire extinguisher. Brice took over and started throwing salt on the flames. He finally got the flames out. By this time the House is filled with black smoke and people's eyes are burning. We opened all the windows and door...but it was smokey for a very long time.

Anyhow...back to the bread...yeah I did not think to take a picture of the flaming oven...but here is the "after" shot. Notice the nice black layer on top of the dough.



You would think that after this point I would throw in the towel and forget about the bread. But no...I had not given up yet! I take half of the dough and transfer it to a new pan. I only filled it half full of dough so that it could rise if it wanted to. I figured it had pleny of room to rise since it had already risen so much. I melt more butter to pour on the top and place it back in our now clean oven.

And yes...it did cook without any flames. I did get concerned at one point because the bread did rise so that is the butter almost spilled over again. The end result is that yes, we did get to enjoy some delicious Idiot bread (though it did have a slightly smokey flavor).

I call the the bread of second changes...because though it had seemed like I should give up on it...I kept at it. And the end result was good! Others agree. The entire pan of Idiot bread did get eaten.

Is there a lesson in all of this? Of course. We are much like the bread of second chances. Though we may face trials (flaming ovens) in our lives...God never gives up on us. He will keep putting us in the oven until He has the end result He desires. Yes, this not a totally great analogy that breaks down in many areas...but this incident does remind me that God does not give up on us. He gives us second chances...and third..and fourth when needed.

On a side note...I am not an Idiot...I am just too smart for Idiot bread. I will try again and hopefully be able to make it without the flames. I totally love how my identity is not based on my ability to make Idiot bread. I was able to laugh this off and move on. My night was not ruined. My reputation as a cook...maybe...but my identiy is still in place and I still like to think that I can make a pretty decent meal. By the way...the Beef Stroganof and even the green beans (I tried an experiment--I made vegetables to see if anyone would eat them) were a sucess. Nearly all of the green beans disappeared!

Thanks for endruing through this ramble about my cooknig adventures!