I made yeast bread...or Pumpkin Pie Brioche for HBin5!

I did it. I did it. I did it. Yay. Yo lo hice.... Seriously, I want to bust out in a Dora song!!! Remember scaredy cat me? You know, afraid of the big, bad yeasties? How long have I been telling you I'm just going to do it? Jump in. Make friends with BBY (big bad yeasty). I bit the bullet. Michelle of Big Black Dog has started a new group based on the new book by Jeff Hertzberg MD and Zoe Francois called Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. It's called (fittingly) Healthy Bread in Five (or HBin5, as you'll see me refer to it from here on out). We're going to be...baking bread. Healthy bread. And I couldn't be more excited! Oh yes, I'll still visit my favorite bakeries to bask in that beautiful smell and tear into that warm bread....just not as often. Because I am conquering my fear. HBin5 officially starts at the beginning of 2010 to give people time to get through the craziness of the holidays and to purchase the book. But until then, we'll be baking a bonus recipe once a month! Never before published recipes from Zoe and Jeff...Novembers recipe being Pumpkin Pie Brioche. I can't give you the recipe because of copyright laws, but Michelle has permission to print it, so you can head over there to see it. But I'll show you how I accomplished step #1 in conquering my BBY fear...just doing it. A yeasted bread, baking in the oven is one of my most favorite scents in the whole wide world! And even though there is both pumpkin and spices in this bread...they are very understated. I smelled that heavenly scent after 10 minutes or so in the oven...and then tasted it in every bite. Goodbye BBY, hello homemade yeast bread!So, don't forget to follow that link for the recipe if you want to give it a try (you totally should). But I can't help but show you the process...you know me.... Those BBY were ready to taunt me, but I threw them in with the other ingredients without a second glance. I mixed the dry and added the wet. I put it in a container. And it rose! It really, really rose! Pretty, huh? I tore off a piece and I shaped it. And then I set it aside to rise again. And it rose! Again!! Woot, Woot! I prepped it for the oven and sat in a mix of anticipation and sensory ecstasy while it baked. And then the torture of letting it cool before cutting. But all worth it. All completely worth it. Beautiful plain.Beautiful toasted with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top. Want to join us for next months Bread Braid (HBin5 round-up, basically)? Head on over to sign up now! Simply click on the badge.....