My Name Is Lisa and My Husband Owns A Bakery But...............

I love to bake!!  I love it!  I love to bake bread.  I probably should just leave it up to James.  He does make the most incredible stuff around, but I love making it at home.  There is no better smell than bread in the oven.  James loves it when I bake, and so do my kids.  The red-head could eat a whole loaf of Banana Bread or Zuchinni Bread in one sitting, and the oldest loves a hot loaf of White Bread right after school.  I have a lot of people ask me if James loves to cook at home.  Answer...........are you kidding?  Not a chance.  He told me once he can make 100 loaves in a batch, but not 2.  And he doesn't cook either.  But I don't mind.  He's perfect otherwise!

Last week one of our cute employees brought in a bag of some Focaccia she had made at home the night before for dinner.  It was so tasty!!  I had to replicate it.  Had to!  Sunday dinners at our home are usually something big and roast-ish, but with Christmas this weekend I figured we'd be eating a lot of meat and potatoes so I made two loaves of Focaccia and turned them into Panini sandwiches.  It was lovely.  It was easy too.  Focaccia is a great alternative to breadsticks or garlic bread.  It's great for sandwiches too.  I'm now trying to talk James into making it at the bakery.  I feel a new sandwich in the making!!

Focaccia Bread Courtesy Allrecipes.com

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1 pinch ground black pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup water

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup mozzarella

Directions

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and black pepper. Mix in the vegetable oil and water.

When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm. (I didn't use any cheese and I doubled the batch and it made 2 large silver cookie sheet sized loaves.  You can add all sorts of different herbs, and spices.  Experiment.)