What a whimsial discovery. A loaf made from breadstick dough? Who knew? When I firsr tried to make the breadsticks the way I was supposed to, the dough was so sticky I ended up with mis-shapen long skinny blobs. Oh, and I burned them to death and had to start over. Then one day, about two weeks ago, the 5-watt bulb went off in my head and I said to myself, "Self, why not leave that sticky dough stuck together and see if it turns into a loaf of bread. It DID!!! I had to follow my own invented plan. The dough went into a well-buttered loaf pan and was pressed in to fill it from edge to edge. It was then covered with plastic touching the surface and left sitting on the counter for a couple of hours. It rose a bit, but not a lot. More guesswork: I heated my oven to 400 degrees and baked the dough for 14 minutes. The loaf that emerged from the oven was a thing of beauty and, when tasted, was yet again beautiful. From now on I go back to making my breadsticks with puff pastry and cute loaves of bread from the breadstick dough. I will be serving several loaves of it at a picnic I am catering Friday evening for 33 guests. Wish me luck!!!
