Finally...Homemade Bread!

Its the little things in life that make me happy.  Today I finally succeeded in making some bread.  What most of you don't see is all the times that I fail.  I usually just post about the perfection of something that I've made.  Well, now I'm going to be honest with you. 
I've been trying to make bread for a really long time and have never really quite succeeded.  Yes, I know, my husband and other taste-testers have said that they like the bread, but I know them well enough that I can read right through them.  I also know what good bread is supposed to taste like, and I can tell you that mine barely reached edible.  And when i mean edible, I mean that when it comes out of the oven I eat a slice and then can't handle the taste anymore that I give the rest to my chickens.  When i talk about bread making, I'm not talking about white bread that anyone could make in their sleep, I'm talking grinding the wheat berries and making bread. 
Finally, after much research, I did this (inspiration from here):
2 Cups-Whole Wheat Flour
8oz-Whey (from my homemade yogurt)
5oz-water
1/2 tsp. yeast
Warm up the water and whey so its slightly above room temp.  Mix flour, whey, water, and yeast while cleaning up dinner dishes (because it needs to sit around on your counter for about 12 hours)
The next morning, while you're drinking your coffee, add:
1 1/4 Cups-White Bread Flour (I know, I'm cheating a little...but it feels sooo good)
2 1/2 tsp.-Salt
Knead in your kitchen-aid for 5 minutes (I seriously set a timer because I was afraid of developing the gluten too much).  After the 5 minutes, I kneaded it by hand until I felt that the gluten was developed enough (try stretching it out and if it breaks before you can see light through the stretched out part, then you need to knead it some more).
Let it rise for 4-6 hours (I let mine only rise 4 hours).  At this point, I divided it into two.  Gently fold each piece into thirds (like a letter you are folding to put into an envelope).  You'll only need to do this twice (because you don't want to damage the precious gluten).  That's the shape I left it and let it rise for another hour.  At the end of the hour, I started pre-heating my oven with a stone and a pan of water under (to create steam).  So really the final rise was about 1 1/2 hours.  Just before I put it in the oven, I sprayed it with water and cut the top.  I let it cook about 3 minutes at 520F then dropped the temperature to 350F and let it finish for another 25 minutes.  I also transferred it so that the bread cooked on a piece of parchment which was on the stone.  Once it was cooked, I took it out and let it cook on a wire rack. 
This bread was incredible.  It had fluff, flavor, and a fresh taste. It also was amazing with a glass of Sauvignon Blac.

Homemade Wheat Bread and Wine fixes a long day!
(P.S. The wine was not from Wiens)

Things that I'm now learning:
-Its more about the technique than the recipe
-Watch YouTube videos on how to knead
-Don't over-knead your dough
-Cheat, no one will judge you (maybe one day I'll have wheat bread that tastes this good that is 100% wheat and no white flour)
-Use less yeast (yes, I know it takes longer, but its totally worth it)
-Use whey (I'm only saying this because I read on several websites that you can use whey to replace water in baking...I did it and it tasted good)
-Serve this bread with grilled basil shrimp (recipe to come)
-Drink wine!

Homemade Yogurt

                           

I'm coming to realize that I'm a slow learner.  My friend Katie has been making her own yogurt for years and has tried to convince me to give it a try.  Then I watched my sister-in-law, Joli, make yogurt and still wasn't convinced that I could do it.  Blog posts I've read seem complicated too.  Finally a friend from church told me how to make yogurt in 4 steps:
Step 1-Heat milk to 180F
Step 2-Cool to around 100F
Step 3-Add a couple of teaspoons of yogurt

Step 4-Keep at 100F until it turns to yogurt

That's all there is to it!

Now I'll explain how I actually accomplished those 4 steps.

Heat 1/2 gallon (8 cups) of whole milk to between 175-185F
Note: I've heard you can use low fat or non fat but I like
the creamy taste of the whole milk

Allow to cool to 100F (This takes about an hour, so go
water your plants and drink some coffee)

In the meantime, measure out a couple of tsp of
fresh, plain yogurt that has live cultures
(the ratio is 4 C. milk to 1 tsp. of yogurt).  After
you've made yogurt once, you can just start saving
a couple of tsp from one batch to make the next.

Once the milk has cooled, add the yogurt and mix well
(I used a whisk)

Put 100F milk into Crockpot and surround it with
100F water (this is my method for keeping it at 100F
for 8-12 hours, other methods include an oven that
can be set at 100F or a yogurt maker)

Cover with a thick towel to keep in the heat.  This
lasts about 3-4 hours.  When the thermometer says
that the water is below 100F, turn on Crockpot for
just a couple of minutes. SET A TIMER.  I almost
forgot about it and almost killed my yogurt.
Let the yogurt bugs do their thing until you wobble
the milk and it looks like jello (8-12 hours).
         You've just made Homemade Yogurt!

Now you can make your own Greek Yogurt!

Use 4 layers of cheesecloth and cover a colander.  Put a bowl under the colander to catch the whey.  This takes several hours so put it in the fridge during this time.  When the yogurt is the consistency to your liking, save whey and put yogurt in an airtight container. Store both in the fridge.   Rinse out the cheesecloth well and save for your next batch of yogurt.

I like my yogurt really thick so I strain it a lot.  For a half gallon of milk, I usually get about 32oz of thick Greek yogurt and almost 32oz of whey.  Save your whey! I'll post ways you can use it.
Waste not, want not!