weekly bakery

I bake bread once a week. I must look for a moment of at least 2 hours. Baking is something I love but started seriously only a few years ago so it needs my full attention. Many of my friends are surprised to hear that Japanese people don’t have oven traditionally at home. We have grills for sure but that’s about it. It’s just our way of cooking and baking was not a traditional method for our daily home cooking. I need some opinions from Japanese people here. Does people have ovens at home nowadays?

The bread I make is usually for kids lunch box filler. My kids love rice as a main portion of their food and when they are smaller, I used to make Bentō type of lunch box for them. Something similar to the image here but less simpler with rice, and other bits and bobs that kids would funcy. Now that they are a bit older and sensible, they prefer something easier and quicker to eat. Besides, that’s what makes my life easier so I started to make english type lunch for them. The first problem I faced was that they don’t like sandwiches so much. They prefered wraps but I lost the interest in preparing their lunch box. But then lately, I started to bake savory bread for them. On the right is a cheese and cone muffin bread. It divided into small 4 parts so it’s easy for children to break and munch.

Baking is, I believe, it’s all about patience because you need so much time for proofing. If you shortcut that, your bread won’t be as good as you wish. Choosing flour is also as important but if you can shape the dough in an attractive way, here comes your homemade bread!