Dead Bread

I love to bake.

I have been told I am an excellent cook (does it count if the people telling me are all related?)

and yet...

I still have yet to make the perfect loaf of bread.

I don't understand my problem with bread. I can make a white bread no problem.

Yet we don't eat white bread, so that is just useless.

My whole wheat bread never rises right.

Tonight I made three loaves. All seemed to be going perfectly. I was excited.

It rose all three times like it was supposed to. It smelled fantastic, and all signs pointed to success.

I popped the loaves in the oven...

and 30 minutes later they were a beautiful brown color, with concave tops.

What is the deal? Just once I would like to figure out the secret to getting the pretty domed tops of bread. I am thankful that it wasn't a brick this time. The last time I attempted whole wheat bread we ended up using it as a door stop. It was mortifying. I am supposed to know how to cook! I have read recipe book tips on how to get the perfect bread, and I am telling you, it just isn't working.

I am just hoping I can try again before 6 months pass, like they did last time.

But tomorrow we are making cookies.

I know how to make those. They don't have to rise. And Keith wants to try out his new Halloween cookie cutters. He is a little obsessed with bats and pumpkins and ghosts, so this will be quite the treat for him, and a cooking triumph for me. I think I just wont tell anyone about the bread and let them keep thinking I am master of the culinary arts.

P.S. Anyone want a brick? I am thinking of making my bread for a charity. House and feed the hungry. All in one.

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