The woman can't cook rice, but she can cook bread

True confession: I can't cook rice.

I dry it out, burn it, or leave it in a slush of gooey water. I've tried several recipes and instructions with "no fail" in their title to no avail. I thought the change of climate or altitude would help, but no. When I do cook it (always with the optimism that this time I'll get it right) I do so in a non-stick pan. Saves me from chipping off the inevitable burnt grains.

I can, however, bake a good loaf of bread. At our altitude, yeast-based dough rise so quickly I'm amazed that we don't have lots of great bread around. This is one of the unexpected joys of living here--dough rises like a charm. When Teresa recommended this blog with a no-knead bread recipe (originally from the New York Times) I was eager to try. http://smittenkitchen.com/2006/11/one-for-the-sling-files

At our altitude, it only took about 8 hours for the first rising rather than 12 or 18. (I love that!) This was an EASY recipe, and the results were fantastic. My loaf had fewer large bubbles, but a great texture, and a VERY pretty top. Even the day after, the bread is moist and chewy, with a hard crust. That's hard to achieve in a dry climate.