Sunday morning we had French toast and bacon for breakfast. I stirred up a batch of bread dough as soon as we finished breakfast and figured I’d leave it in the bowl rising for an hour or so, then knead it again and put it in the pan to rise and we’d have fresh bread for lunch.
The hour or so turned into about 3 or 4 hours because I went out in the garden and was working. When I came into the house with a bag full of carrots and beets and lettuce and kale, I thought . . hmmm . . smells like fresh bread in here. That’s when I realized the dough that should have been rising for one hour and been rising way too long.
I went ahead and kneaded it again and put it in the bread pan, figuring I’d let it rise about an hour. That was about noon. The next time I came in the house was about 4 p.m. and the dough had risen way too high.
Forgotten Bread
I wasn’t quite sure how it would turn out. I didn’t know if it would collapse as soon as I put it in the oven. It did not. I wasn’t sure how it would taste but it’s fine.
The bread that was stirred up at breakfast and was supposed to be ready for lunch was ready for dinner. It’s way too tall for the toaster though. We have to put it in and toast the bottom half, the flip it over and toast the top half! 
You know now why I write myself so many notes!
I get distracted too! I have resorted to putting a small kitchen timer in my pocket to help me remember when I am doing something else that I know will distract me.
stop copying me ! I kid
This is one of the uses of my smartphone. I set the timer on the phone every time I put stuff in the dryer. That way I get the clothes out before they wrinkle. Otherwise, it can be several hours later and I have to run the dryer again just for wrinkles. I’ll bet that would work for bread dough, too.
LOL – living in the land of distraction means that I understand all too well what you are talking about. However it is something I have also done purposefully – when I find at the last minute that my yeast is more than a little too old! Extra rising time just means that those yeasty plants get to throw a party and multiply like crazy! (Then too – when faced with REALLY too old yeast – and I am talking really OLD! – I have found myself adding the ancient yeast to a sourdough like concoction and letting the little yeasties multiply that way!)
I am laughing and laughing! Thank you for this! I do make bread like that!!!
You made a loaf of Monster Bread! I love it. Too bad you don’t have any little kids around – you could have had a lot of fun with that. Glad it turned out tasty at least.
Bet it was still good. There’s just nothing better than fresh, warm bread with butter melted into it.
Oh, this is so something I would do. It’s always reassuring when others are like this, too!!
Funny about the too-tall bread. Glad it tasted good, though!
I made bread yesterday, too, but I had it raising near the wood stove, and I was in the same room (the only warm room in the house!) It was delicious!!! At the same time, I used 2/3 of the dough to make pepperoni rolls!! Yum!
Been there, done that! I’ve had to clean sticky dough off of counter tops after the “lava flow” of dough escaped the huge bread bowl. Now I carry a portable timer in my pocket and don’t allow myself to go anywhere near the sewing room when I’m baking bread. I have a tendency to lose track of time when I”m in my sewing room.
That is why I use my bread machine!!! That way when I forget it, the machine just goes ahead and lets it rise and bakes it, even keeps it warm for quite some time.
Been there/done that….understand totally. Have timer/will travel……everywhere!!!!!!!
How I laughed at this post (right down to the toast flippinf)! You were lucky, though. The first time I made my family’s special Christmas bread, it came out normal-shaped. I told my mother, “I thought it was supposed to have ‘ears’ on it.” (I guess she was busy, with five kids spanning a dozen years.) She told me, “Well, YOU can make it from now on.”
Better than forgetting it in the oven! Remember the I Love Lucy when she baked bread that went from the kitchen to the living room?
Oh, how funny!
Hope it was tasty – I bet it was.