Hi there,
Here’s a cute moment just happened a second ago — my 3 year old daughter just burst into the door of my office as my husband Alex and I were working at our computers and exclaimed:
“Daddy, where’s my favorite kind of bread?” (Alex: We just ran out of it! You ate it all yesterday!)
“Can you make some more of it right now?”
Yes, today’s topic is bread and I have a really, really good recipe that you’ll be craving just like my daughter is. The best part is that I can actually make it in time for dinner tonight.
As you may know, lately I’ve been musing on the hours spent cooking homemade food and whether it’s worth the effort. (I wrote about it at length here, along with a smash burger tacos recipe I can’t stop making 😋)
Here’s what I’m thinking about today:
Sometimes (or, a lot of times), it’s worth making the homemade bread.
Homemade bread is definitely a commitment. I haven’t quite figured out how to work it into my weekly rhythm.
But as someone who cares deeply about health, the value of cooking, and insanely delicious food, I am always excited when I find something that tastes like I got it from a professional bakery but is easy to make at home.
That’s what this new quick focaccia bread recipe is.
Add this to your plan for today, and your whole family will thank you!
Most focaccia bread recipes take an overnight rest, but Alex helped me to create this same-day focaccia recipe that tastes like it’s from a fancy bakery but is truly easy.
It is also the perfect bread for homemade focaccia sandwiches, which is why we made this recipe in the first place.
It’s crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and is flavored with rosemary and shallot with a topping that tastes a little like an Everything Bagel.
In the time it’s taken me to write the recipes below and this newsletter, Alex made another batch and our kitchen smells heavenly. It’s so simple and requires only a metal pan and a pizza stone (worth it for this recipe, though you can make it without and it’s also very tasty).
Then I challenge you to turn it into this amazing chopped salad focaccia sandwich, which tastes like it’s from an Italian deli. I use a “chopped salad” trick by adding romaine, red onion, and pepperoncini in a creamy Italian dressing as a layer over cheese, balsamic-marinated tomatoes and fresh basil. It’s pretty next level!
I’ve also shared a few more variations so you can make it your own: it would also be great with prosciutto, salami, or turkey if you’re a meat eater.
Let me know if you try one or both!
xoxo,
Sonja
I took a class from Harvard on the pillars of lifestyle medicine (here’s what I learned) and one of the pillars for optimum health is this: get 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night.
This can be tricky for me and Alex: we love to stay up late watching World Cup matches and random Netflix shows. We also just got back from the Oregon Coast so we’re adjusting from a 3-hour time difference (ack!). And, last night our daughter decided to be awake between the hours of 2:00 and 4:30 am.
So! We’re a little off on our sleep and I was thinking…wouldn’t it be so nice to decide to jump in bed an hour before we normally do?
This rarely happens for us, so I’m adding it as a goal this week. How about you: is this easy or hard for you?
This week’s invitation: Pick one night this week to go to bed 1 hour before you normally do. See how you feel!
xoxo
~Sonja
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