The book review--amended

Last week I wanted to make bread to take to a friend's house. I made two loaves: the original NY times no knead bread and a cinnamon raisin swirl bread from Kneadlessly Simple (you know, the book I just recommended). And I have to tell you. I found them to be a pain.

The night before I wanted to bake I mixed up the cinnamon raisin bread and stuck it in the frig. The author recommends chilling the dough for 3-10 hours before you start the "first rise." In the morning, before work, I took it out of the frig and mixed up the other no knead bread. I left both out on the counter while I was at work. They needed to rise for at least 12 hours, so they weren't ready for the "second rise" until 8 pm. My sexy husband and I like to go to a coffee shop/open mic/charity thing every Thursday night, and waiting until 8 pm made us late (besides the fact that to ready the cinnamon bread for the second rise I had to mix in a bunch more ingredients and roll it out and roll it up...which took about 15-20 min). After arriving late, I had to leave early because I had bread on the counter rising, and the second rise was only 2 hours. Unfortunately, the two breads didn't bake at the same temperature. So I had to bake the cinnamon bread first and then wait for the oven to get hotter to bake the no knead bread. I think Nancy Baggett, the author if Kneadlessly Simple, is a big fan of steps because she made me bake the bread for 20-25 covered, 20-25 min uncovered, check to see if it's done...if you think it's done, bake 10 more minutes (because it probably wasn't really done). Geez! By the time I finished baking both breads it was midnight, and I still had to let them cool.

So....I really thought it would take me a while to determine which book I liked better: Artisan Breads in 5 min a day or Kneadlessly Simple. But although I still reserve the right to change my mind based upon flavor, Artisan Breads in 5 Min a Day has taken the early lead, a very big early lead, an almost insurmountable early lead. The bread recipes in both books are easy. However, the recipes in Artisan Breads are just so convenient.

With Artisan Breads I just mix, wait 2 hours and refrigerate. Then the bread dough is practically ready whenever I need it, no worries about changing my mind or having something come up. Besides that, last night I mixed up the light wheat bread (even mixing has less steps in this book), ate dinner, watched a little TV, and stuck it in the frig. Now, with that one recipe, I can make a round loaf, a pan loaf, a baguette, pizza, pita, and probably more stuff I can't think of right now....calzones? I don't even have to decide with any confidence what I want to eat for the next 2 weeks!

Easy is one thing. But for those of us who don't live on schedules, don't have a lot of time, or need to be flexible, you can't beat easy and convenient.