The Formerly Frumpy Mama: Pink No Knead Bread

For my daughter's third birthday, she wanted a "pink," party. For MONTHS she talked about how she was going to have a pink birthday. SO, I did the best I could with that theme. We had the party during lunch time, so she and other of her friends in attendance who still NEED naps could get them afterward. I knew I would have to provide some sort of lunch, especially for those traveling to come, and I wanted it to fit the pink theme. So I got the lovely pink sandwiches brain child. They would be cheap, easy to eat, portable, and delicious. I made two types, chicken salad sandwiches for the adults and children with more sophisticated palates, and good old peanut butter and jelly for those not so into the chicken salad. Both were cheap, tasty options. The best part, however, was the pink, homemade, artisan-like, bread. And, it is SO easy to make. I visited my friend's site, noknead.com, and used his wonderful White Artisian No-Knead Bread Recipe, I just added a little, well, quite a bit, of red food coloring to the water before mixing the dough. Then I used a sandwich cutter, like a cookie cutter for sandwiches, to make the sandwiches into star shapes (hearts would be too valentine's day-ish.) They turned out great! Here's the recipe as well as some photos of the process that I thought might make your experience even more simple.

White Artisan No-Knead Bread

4 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 cups water

(Seriously, that's it. SO cheap and easy to make.)

After you mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise overnight/13-18 hours. When it's done, it will look all bubbly and weird, like this. No worries, that means it's perfect.

Flour a clean counter top/cutting board/table well, and, using a plastic/silicone spatula, dump the dough out onto the floured surface. Flour your hands well before the next steps.

(In case you were wondering, my husband was the lovely hand model in all of these. If he can make this bread, SO CAN YOU!) Once all the dough is on the floured surface, use your hands (or someone else's,) to press the dough into a rectangular shape. The fold the dough over itself, starting with the sides, right side to the center, then left over right, then top to the center, then bottom over top. You end up with a loaf pan sized rectangle of dough. See the pics below. Put it in a greased, large, bread pan and let it rise for another hour or so in the bread pan. It should be up above the edges of the bread pan, quite larger than when you put it in there. Cook at 450 degrees for app. 30 minutes.