I made a fussy bread the other day – a rich brioche that took two days and about a half hour in the stand mixer.
But the typical breads I bake (around 120 loves a year) are these three:
- a honey whole wheat sandwich bread that is out of the oven 2 hours after I start it
- a no-knead bread that requires 24 hours but maybe 2 minutes of active work
- a focaccia that is acceptable if I start it 30 minutes before dinner, and outstanding if I give it an extra hour or two
For me, the value of a bread is in its repeatability – because what I want out of baking at home is to not eat store-bought bread. A fussy bread doesn’t motivate me to bake something again. And while I have extra time during the quarantine, I know that I won’t always – so I’m sticking to breads that I’ll be able to keep making down the road.
I admire the sourdoughs and the bagels and the tricky loaves that friends are baking, but they aren’t for me. I’ll stick to the ones I can make again and again.
That’s true for me musically, too. I do like variety, and I do like novelty, but there is something about taking a piece I know people enjoy singing and hearing, and making it part of a regular rotation. Do something fussy or unusual on occasion, but do it within the context of reliable, repeatable recipes.