Only a Half Loaf I Ate

Hejo and I like to pounce on my husband in the morning after letting him sleep in until 7 30 or 8 AM (hey, being a student does have some perks).... we really can't wait too long before we start yanking gently at his hair and making babbling noises and disturbing his sleeping beautiness.... Hejo was telling me through his baby gibberish that he was aching to go to the market this morning for some fresh pints of $1.50 blueberries and a 16-oz.-er of some wonderful smoothie blend with pineapple and banana in it.... I wasn't about to set my foot down on this one, so we awakened Chris with our typical childish and annoying rituals, made like cows, and moooved as fast as possible to grab our blueberries, smoothies, and freshly baked off pretzels from the cute Amish gals.


The morning air shocked me. The humidity was unbelievably low (yippeee) and having just rained, it was surprisingly unsticky, fresh like fall, and a sweet zip to my face. Of course it started toying with my head about sweater weather, soup kitchens, and warm carbs.... i.e. bread that you can barbarically tear off with your pearly whites and use as sponges to clean up your soup bowl... that kind of bread. Know what I'm saying??

So we left the market with smoothies, bloated stomachs, and bags of produce. I got my game face on and became suddenly busy making a few rounds of this Peda (not "pita", Peda) bread, using some fresh rosemary, tucked deep inside the wrinkly brown bag.

Must tell you... I'm no bread-baking diva and I fully and freely admit it without shame or guilt.
Cupcakes, cakes, and "quick" breads as they call them, I can handle... but once you start throwing in yeast and the kneading and the neediness of "babysitting" these high-maintenance doughs, FORget it. That's why I was so delighted when my friend Chaci, served us this at dinner a few weeks back and explained how easy and quick it is.. not to mention one of the tastiest homemade breads I've yet had... So here's her recipe for it. You should try it. Really.

Chaci's Peda Bread

2 Tbsp yeast
2 Tbsp sugar
1 cup + 2 Tb warm milk
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 cups flour
Fresh herbs, chopped*

To warm milk, heat in a small saucepan over medium heat (do not let boil). Add it to the sugar and yeast. Next, add the flour, salt, olive oil, and the herbs. Knead 10 min, let rest 10 min. Shape into circle. Let rise (I let mine rise for 20 or so minutes), brush with egg yolk, sprinkle with kosher salt and herbs. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.


*I used rosemary for this trial run... my friend likes to use basil, thyme, oregano, etc depending on what else she's serving with the bread. If you want to be really fancy-pants, she also recommended using onion, feta cheese, or whatever your stomach desires for the topping. Good luck!