The simple pleasure of bread and your chance to win some!

Life has the most inconvenient way, sometimes, of getting in the way of enjoying life itself.

I say, dear Responsibilities, wouldn’t you like to take a holiday from giving me guilt when I neglect you? This co-dependent relationship can’t be doing either of us any good here. And Obligations, surely you’d like to take a day off and just take it easy in a hammock whilst sipping a colourful drink adorned with a paper umbrella?

Unfortunately life doesn’t wait nor necessarily slow down when we want it to, unlike the recent approach I’ve taken with this blog. The blog has taken a backseat whilst other areas of life have been demanding my attention and keeping me busy, inciting frustration and annoyance along with way. Hopefully the cobwebs have yet to set in as this blog will be on the quiet side for a little longer still.

When life zaps most of the energy and sunbeams out of me, I lose the inspiration and motivation to cook. We’re not talking about attempting some magnificent feast here – oh, no – just the usual simple stir-fry with a bit of rice, and even then it seems to take exponential amounts of effort compared to usual. Comfort eating can only occur when you have the resources to do so.

And so I have been thankful for quick staples such as dried pasta, canned soup, frozen dumplings, dried Chinese noodles and bread. Yes, bread – one of the simple pleasures of life which is a meal in itself with some butter, olive oil or any manner of spreads or toppings. Take soft Turkish bread which can effortlessly be sliced into fingers and eaten with some dip and olives…


…ciabatta which can be hollowed out as a vessel for (a failed) cheese fondue with nubbins of corn. Or for a cob of comforting soup with the “lid” cut into fingers for dipping.


And a sexy French baguette which I attempted to fashion into two types of picnic-style stuffed rolls which didn’t quite turn out the way I had envisaged. Well, much like life itself.


Luckily there was this somewhat redeeming rendition of “pizza”, where the leftover Turkish bread was split into top and bottom halves to act as bases for basil pesto, sausage pieces, marinated artichoke hearts, pine nuts and, on one of them, sundried tomato pesto and egg.


Seasoned, topped with cheese and shoved in a 220°C oven for the sausage pieces to cook and for the cheese to bubble and brown, these made for a perfectly easy lunch to remind me that life indeed can have its simple, peaceful, pleasurable moments.


Now, for your chance to win some bread, Bakers Delight are kindly giving away vouchers worth $5 each to five readers of Spoon, Fork & Chopsticks. All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me what simple pleasure you enjoy in life and why. Entries close Friday 26 November 2010 at 11pm Australian Eastern Standard time and are open to Australian residents only. Winning entrants will be chosen by Monsieur Poisson (AKA the Husband, AKA the one who doesn’t cook) based on originality and will be published here in a future post, so make sure you stay tuned! Any rude/profane/offensive entries will be deleted and excluded from the competition.

Mademoiselle Délicieuse received the above selection of bread courtesy of Rebecca Stalker from Keep Left Public Relations and Baker’s Delight.

happy cooking!

15 comments:

  1. Bread really is a simple pleasure in life =)

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  2. i truly believe bread can make anything better.

    i'm sad = eat bread
    i'm happy = eat bread.

    there is no better thing in life than toast!

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  3. Love love love Bakers' Delight. We have them here too but they are called "Cob's". Not quite as nice but all the same products. In fact, there's one just around the corner from work - your post might have inspired me to stop by on my way home!

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  4. Bread is such a wonderful staple, what would we do without it?

    My simple pleasure (beside bread) is actually not food related - yes people pick yourselves up off the floor now. It is the Aussie bush, just sit there and listen, breath and relax, soak those beautiful surroundings in - simple pleasure and a total escape from our mad busy lives.

    MD, there is no way life would zap all those sunbeams out of you and they regenerate pretty quickly :)

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  5. Mmm, melts do it for me :) Simple ham cheese tomato melts.

    Simple pleasure of life? Spending time with really good friends over some food and get a tummy ache afterwards from all those silliness and laughter.

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  6. My favorite Bakers Delight product is their 'Custard Scrolls' mm.... to die for!!

    My Simple Pleasure: watching my 3 chooks free range around our yard and collecting their beautiful eggs in the morning to cook up for breakfast!

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  7. Whoa - you're doing some seriously creative stuff there with the bread!

    Sitting in the garden with nothing to do for even just a few minutes - simple pleasures in life...

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  8. nubbins is such a hilarious word. Oh dear Sunbeam- I know what you mean- sometimes life does take it out of you. this year has been a little manic. Is everything going a little better now.

    P.S Did I tell you I had to perform 'You are my sunshine' at a number of talent quests when I was about 3 or 4? My babysitters thought it was hilarious x

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  9. Like yo, I love bread...and sure one of the simple pleasure is the smell of the bread baking in the oven...

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  10. Love the thought of Obligations sitting in a hammock with an umbrella adorned beverage whilst you get along with your obligation-free life.

    Simple pleasures? Lying on the grass in the sun and seeing how many handfuls of dried grass you can sneak onto your friend's stomach before they notice and start a sneezy grass-throwing war.

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  11. Once my doctor said I might suffer from gluten intolerance. I cried! Luckily it sort of went away, and I could enjoy bread ;)

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  12. Oh yesss, fresh bread would definitely have to be up there along with fresh bed sheets, hot showers and 'spooning'!

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  13. Dayem, this looks awesome. I was lazy to do this challenge, but glad I didn't coz you win!! Love it.

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  14. I have learnt to lead a life apart from all the rest...bread is sweet in all its forms.

    All my pleasures are simple but my favourite and most treasured would have to be my Sunday night ritual of curling up in bed with one of my prized aubergines, lulled to sleep by the spot fires set outside by my flamer...

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  15. Hey Angie, I really need to try my hand at making some too!

    Hey Laura, haha, yes, I've noticed you consume quite a bit of bread!

    Hey Mardi, Cob's, hehe!

    Hey Sara, it's so nice to just enjoy nature's sounds as they are. So peaceful and such a break from the usual urban noises.

    By the way, Monsieur Poisson has chosen you as one of the voucher winners!

    Hey FFK, laughter can be such an underrated commodity. And I mean proper laughter with friends, not going to a comedy show etc. Monsieur Poisson must agree with you as he's chosen you as one of the voucher winners!

    Hey Susan, don't you love pets that give back! =p Monsieur Poisson loves his eggs and has chosen you as one of the voucher winners!

    Hey Tina, it really is nice just to be able to sit back and do absolutely nothing sometimes! Monsieur Poisson has chosen you as one of the voucher winners, so some bread can accompany you for some nothing time in future =)

    Hey Gastronomy Gal, I aim to entertain =p But you're the true entertainer having been in talent shows!

    Hey Juliana, I love the smell of freshly-baked bread, just need to work on the baking part! =p

    Hey Shez, yes, someone please whisk my Obligations away for a break please!

    Heheh, grass-throwing war! Something I've not done for a very long time. Monsieur Poisson has chosen you as one of the voucher winers - just don't go throwing it at anyone =p

    Hey Anh, I think the thing I would miss most, if I had gluten intolerance, would be bread. If you can't have pasta there's still other noodles you can have, but bread's a hard one to substitute.

    Hey Ladybird, hot baths do it for me!

    Hey Adrian, thanks *blush blush*

    Hey Ninja, LOL and I thought your simple pleasure would have been wearing skirts!

    It is for me...*wink*

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