Cranberry-Walnut Bread

I often approach cooking with the enthusiasm of a boy who meets a girl, immediately falls in love, and gets that girl's name tattooed on his chest. My unbridled enthusiasm often prevents from seeing the big picture, and I often put the cart before the horse. In the end, I scratch my head and mutter, "I guess, I didn't think about that."

This was the case last we week when I started to prepare a cranberry-walnut bread. I started the bread at 4:30 on a weekday afternoon. After preparing the starter for this bread, I realized that it would take an additional 7-8 hours to finish the bread. Since I'm a guy who needs all the beauty sleep I can get, staying up to finish the bread wasn't an option. I shortened the rise times for this recipe, and fortunately the bread turned out great.

I've been making this bread for three years, and each time I make it, I'm impressed with its rustic appearance and how it's the perfect companion for a toaster.

Cranberry-Walnut Bread
(Recipe adapted from The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum)

• You can access a pdf file of the recipe here: Cranberry-Walnut Bread

• You can watch rose Levy Beranbaum make this bread here: Real Baking with Rose.

tramping a perpetual journey,
muddy