First focaccia of spring

63°F in the kitchen this morning. The first warm day after a long, cold March.

I made focaccia. The dough was happy in a way it hasn't been since October. Bubbly, slack, eager. Bulk ferment was on the lower end of the window. The fold-and-rests were quick. By 11am it was in the pan, dimpled and oiled, waiting to go in.

I topped it with cherry tomatoes and basil from the windowsill plant that survived the winter. Twenty-five minutes at 475°F. Done.

We ate it standing at the counter, the windows open for the first time in months, the dog asleep in a sunbeam. This is the bread I look forward to all winter.

If you've been baking through the cold months and the dough has felt sluggish — relief is coming. The kitchen is about to be friendlier. The starter is about to wake up. The next six months are the best baking of the year.

— Sarah