Thank you all so Much for all the kind and encouraging comments on my entry in the food competition.
It has genuinely surprised and delighted me so much that something i have made,
has been so well received.

I could hug you all, twice over,
and twice over again,
and on a personal note,
it could not have come at a better time ,as i had to resign my job last month
and have been feeling a bit down about it since.

Thank you D A community for being so generous with your time and words.

................................

Here is how to make a Bread Rose, in a bit more detail,

Take a white sliced loaf, the very cheapest you can buy,

Cut the crusts off six or seven slices,

Use a rolling pin on a flat surface, and individually roll each slice as flat as you can,

Turn over each slice and roll the other side flat too as this helps make a very smooth surface.

Using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors,
( I used a pair of scissors, but a good knife would do just as well)
on one flattened slice, cut out strip about 2 and a half inches wide,

Roll this strip with your hands to form the center of the rose.

Use your fingers to pinch the end of the rose center, this is the base around which you will add the petals.

Cut Petal shapes from the remaining flattened slices,
and squash them round the base, they should hold together well,

if they do start to look as if they are going to fall away, try tying some fine cotton round them at the base to hold it all together,
( Make sure it is cotton that you use as synthetic will melt in the oven, and then they won't be edible)

Curl the edges of the petals as you work the rose, pinching them slightly,
so that the edges are thinner.
This will help them brown a little more that the body of the rose and give shading to the finished result.

Once you have your rose in the shape you are happy with,
place on the bottom of a hot oven.

I used mine at around 200c,
and as you only want to lightly toast the rose rather than carbonize it!
keep an eye on the cooking time, mine took somewhere between four and six minutes,
but i was checking every minute or so.

I tried a rose out of whole meal bread but it came out very dark and did not look so good, you might have better luck with that than me so its worth a re try,
I also tried a rose made with bread that was half whole meal half white,
in the picture I've posted with the two roses the back rose is the half wholemeal half white one,
it came out okay, but it had a flecked surface, and I preferred the look of the rose that was just made with the plain white bread, so I went with that one.

I think they would make a lovely center piece for a buffet, or harvest supper style event,
or just with dinner because as the poem that inspired this said,

"Hearts starve as well as bodies;
give us bread but give us roses"
- James Oppenheim.

Kindest regards to all.