The first loaf

Well, the first in a while. I haven’t baked a loaf for probably two months. I’ve barely eaten any bread or pasta and no rice. Yes, although I wasn’t sticking to it rigidly, I have been on a diet.

I don’t know why (perhaps I was confusing it with the capital of Ecuador or perhaps influenced by the fact that ‘keenwah’ is spelt quinoa), but when I’ve heard others talk about it, I assumed it was the quito diet. First google search revealed it’s the keto diet. 

Of course, looking into the diet I discovered that most of what I eat (pasta, risottos, sandwiches) was going to be off limits. 

There’s been a lot of smoked salmon, a lot of avocados, a lot of eggs. Not that I have anything against these. I quite like all of them, but…

A couple of weeks ago I arranged to meet a friend for Sunday brunch at the pub. (Yes! Brunch is back at the pub!) She contacted me on Saturday to say there would be no brunch there the next day as most of the staff had been knocked down by Covid. The only other alternative was the coffee shop, where they make a sandwich I particularly like. As soon as we agreed to the change of venues I started salivating at the thought of that ciabatta. And it was heaven.

There had been no evidence of weight loss. My bit-too-tight-when-fresh-out-of-the-wash were still a bit too tight. No sign of my jelly belly shrinking. A couple of days ago I finally got on the scales. Not a pound. Not a single pound had disappeared. Oh, and all that extra energy you’re supposed to have within weeks? Nope.

Well, fuck this for a game of soldiers, I thought. 

So, last night when a friend came round for dinner and a movie, I made a stir fry with rice. 

And just now I’ve finished baking that loaf of bread.

Not the best looking loaf I’ve ever baked. When I took the tea towel off the bowl this morning the dough hadn’t risen all that much. Suspect I might need to replace the yeast, which should be easy now that the pandemic bakers have lost interest. Still, in a few minutes I’m going to cut the still hot heel off, slather it with butter, spread it with jam and enjoy every mouthful.