Baking Bread on a Pretty Spring Day

You know how you go out shopping - it could be to a thrift store or the supermarket, whatever - and you have one particular thing that you need, but you end up leaving with everything BUT that one thing? Well, that's sorta the story of my life.

I needed old wooden hangers.

Which is how I ended up at the local antique shop, buying bread pans.

Makes sense, right?

I never did find any hangers, but I did stumble upon a little booth with some neat kitchen gadgets. And on the very bottom shelf, hidden in the corner, were these gems...

 Cute, right?

I'm a sucker for bread tins.

I'm also pretty darn fond of bread.

Have you ever made bread? I'll admit, I hadn't until recently.

I mean, I've made the dessert-for-breakfast kind. Banana nut, apple cinnamon, cinnamon swirl....yum. But I've never attempted legit bread. There's something about yeast and kneading and waiting hours for bread to rise that intimidates me.

But then I ran into THIS recipe. English Muffin Bread. OH.MY.GOSH.  Easy as can be and absolutely delish when toasted.  And the best part? Both of my picky kids AND my super picky husband love it.  It helps that it's way cheaper (and probably just a bit healthier) than store bought...

So, yeah. I make bread.  And I'm feeling pretty darn accomplished, too ;)

And yes, I'm still chipping away at this great big pile of custom orders... What's on my hook now? A giraffe! This is probably one of my favorite patterns EVER. I made up a few for gifts last year, and it's really nice to be able to whip one up now. In traditional colors, too, might I add.

Now, I'm not sure what's up with the lighting today, but I assure you, those little horns are a rich, coffee brown.  I've been told twice now that the picture makes them look gray-ish. Not the case!

I'm working with a gorgeous golden yellow, cream and that beautiful brown.  I think my last giraffe was purple with pastel spots, so this is definitely a change! I can't wait to see how he turns out...