Three more years of vegan eating... and a bread baking hack.

I'll be the first to admit, I've never been good at following through on personal projects. I'm the type to charge in enthusiastically and then a month later abandon it for something else. Part of that is the ugly side of perfectionism - never wanting to do anything unless it's to be done exactly right.

I've thought about reviving this blog several times, not because I think there's any audience for it except for my family, but because I love food and I like to write. I used to write content for a living, but now that I don't sometimes I need a bit of a word-outlet. So here I am.

There have been a lot of changes in my life in the past three years - mostly positive. But two things haven't changed: still vegan, still spooky.

I could say a lot about the food I've eaten and recipes I've tried in the past three years, but let's start with something recent and summer-relevant. I've learned to make bread in a slow cooker.

Basic Slow Cooker Bread

Ultimately you can probably use any bread recipe in a slow cooker with some experimentation. I learned this trick from other blogs when I was looking for a way to have fresh baked bread in the summer without heating up my entire apartment. Here's what I learned:

• Your bread won't puff up as much as it would in the oven, so expect a slightly wider, flatter loaf.
• Since the bread will rise and bake at the same time, you won't have to let the bread rise before moving to the slow cooker.
• Baking times in slow cookers will vary quite a bit depending on the size of your slow cooker and the size of your loaf.
• You can make fresh bread in your no-AC apartment without dying of heat stroke.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup warm water (130º F)
1 Tbsp. honey or agave
1 1/2 Tbsp. dry yeast
1/2 Tbsp. salt
2 cups all-purpose or white bread flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup rolled oats (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, combine warm water, salt, honey, and yeast and let stand for 5-10 minutes. Add oats and flour one cup at a time until fully combined. Knead thoroughly.

Line your slow cooker with parchment paper and form dough into a round loaf, or turn into a loaf pan if your slow cooker is large enough. Cover and set your slow cooker to High.

From here your baking time will be a bit of trial and error, but most baking times seem to range from 1 to 2 1/2 hours. For more detailed tips, check out the how-to on The Kitchn!

Thanks for reading my revival post. Stay spooky, friends.