Life in the middle of a strong typhoon with a 36-hour blackout, what's a girl to do? Bake some bread! The rolls pictured above are not much to look at (think: kneading and shaping dough by candlelight), but were they tasty!

I've always liked Italian bread but have never tried baking my own. When I go to the grocery, I almost always buy some ciabatta and Focaccia or at the very least some of those soft herbed bread sticks. When I found myself home with nothing to do, I thought I'd try and make my own chewy herbed bread. What better way to make bread but through old-fashioned mixing and kneading? Just the hands, no electronic equipment.

The resulting rolls aren't really Italian but I loved them, especially dipped in a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and herbs. I'll be baking a batch again soon and then modify the recipe a bit for another kind of bread.

Herbed Dinner Rolls

250 g. (2 cups) baker's flour (all-purpose will do)
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
150 ml. (3/4 cup) lukewarm water
3/4 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. basil, sage, thyme, marjoram or prepared Italian seasoning

Mix the yeast with half the water till foamy. Set aside.

In a bowl, mix the flour, salt and herbs together. Pour the yeast mixture together with the remaining water, molasses and olive oil. Combine all the ingredients until a soft dough has formed.

Turn onto a floured board (any flat surface will do) and knead for around 5 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a large ball, place it in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or cling wrap. Leave it in a warm place for two and a half hours until it doubles in size.

Take the dough and on a floured surface, knead for five minutes. Form into eight balls, then flatten into rolls. Place the rolls on a greased baking sheet and let them rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Meanwhile preheat oven to 425 degrees F or 220 degrees C. Brush the rolls with olive oil and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 375 degrees F or 190 degrees C and bake for another 15 minutes. Tap the rolls with a fork and they're done when they sound hollow or when the side facing the baking sheet is slightly browned.