Staff of Life: Ezekiel bread

Last week we made room for a toaster. During my "old-is-better" phase, we stood guard over one after another old-but-charming toasters that refused to give up toast without manual prodding. The latest Eugene heavyweight was deemed not "counter-worthy" for our move to Tacoma, so we gave up the toast. Not a bad thing—fewer carbs, more counter space, and a quicker, smoke-free breakfast. Enter our friend Foster's turnaround to better health. During our San Diego visit this fall, he made us a dandy piece of Ezekiel toast, made from whole grains and whole beans.

Once home, we found a loaf during a routine trip to Trader Joe's. Now TJs is on the other side of town, Ezekiel bread sells for $5.00 a loaf and is literally hard to swallow without a liberal spread of butter and a beverage. During a Costco run we found a loaf of Dave's Killer Bread, hands down delicious, full of seeds, and best of all—two loaves for $7.00. A much better bargain, given the lengthy drive across town. However, heating up the oven's "Broil" function, toasting the bread, and turning on the fans to remove incidental smoke created by forgotten bread offset any energy saved. Thus came, during our next Costco trip, the purchase of a faux-stainless steel toaster—light, small in size, and remarkably inexpensive.

Fitting the new 12" appliance into our 800+ square feet condominium threatened to undo our orderly existence. Where to plug it in: all two kitchen outlets were full, the living room and bedroom seemed inefficient, and the one bathroom outlet sprouted three cords. Obviously, we'd have to move. Given the current condo market in Tacoma, that option was even less efficient than our electrical setup. So...if I use up the yellow lentils, toss out old pasta, shift the Basmatti rice into baggies, throw away the old Cook's Illustrated magazines, move the small white bowl onto the flour container, and put the orange bowl away there's plenty of room for the new toaster. If that is, we move the refrigerator out (which means taking the chrome shelf apart, which means taking all the food off the chrome shelf), put in a triple plug outlet, and string an extension cord to the 12 inches!! provided by Hamilton Beach, we have lift off. The puzzle we call home has been adjusted to include toast.

Being bakerly challenged, I can't imagine wanting to bake Ezekiel-type bread, but for anyone who does: (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ezekiel-Bread-I/Detail.aspx)

Ezekiel Bread

Directions

Measure the water, honey, olive oil, and yeast into a large bowl. Let sit for 3 to 5 minutes.

Stir all of the grains and beans together until well mixed. Grind in a flour mill. Add fresh milled flour and salt to the yeast mixture; stir until well mixed, about 10 minutes. The dough will be like that of a batter bread. Pour dough into two greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.

Let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until dough has reached the top of the pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 to 50 minutes, or until loaves are golden brown.