Fresh bread...

[Beekissed]

The aroma fills the house and embodies everything good about a home, coming home, the old home place and mothers all around the world. I made bread today on this damp and chilly day~both regular bread and banana nut bread~because damp and chilly days just seem to demand the warmth of the oven heating up the kitchen, a pot of soup and crusty, homemade bread for the eating.

That age old ritual of making bread, the rhythm of kneading, the feel of the dough all give me a sense of connection between me and all the women who have labored over a lump of dough since the beginning of the world. In all lands, people and nations women have been connected in this simple task of making bread for their families.

I always think of my mother when I make bread and, when we lived apart, I'd always call her as I was making it, just to chat and tell her I was using her recipe and how great it was turning out.

I taught my boys the same recipe and they can make it as well as I can, sometimes even better. They are proud of their bread making skill, as they are of their cooking. I didn't have any daughters to which to pass along this timeless and wonderful art, but maybe I'll get a chance to pass it along to my DIL and her daughters before it's all said and done.

Anyone enjoy making their bread by hand out there?

 

[baymule]

All this talk of the wonderful fresh bread aroma, the satisfaction of kneading the dough, the connection with women around the world, down through the ages.......... Teaching your sons how to make bread, passing down your mother's recipe and bread making skills so they can teach their children....... And no recipe for us???

 

[Beekissed]

It's nothing fancy...just real basic bread making. I'll have to sit down one day soon and put it down here. We've been using the same recipe for nigh on 25 yrs now without wanting to try a new one, so we like it pretty well. Before this one Mom just made the recipe on the back of the Robin Hood flour bag for decades, but they aren't too much different from one another.

 

[baymule]

Bee, do you use white flour or whole wheat?

 

[Beekissed]

Yes. Both, usually. Mom likes her white but I have this red turkey wheat grown back in the 70s that I like to grind up and add to my white flour to give my bread a little more body and flavor, a little more crustiness.

 

[thistlebloom]

I love making bread too.
My grandma taught me how, although mom made almost all of our bread all the time.
Maybe she never thought I was interested enough to teach me.
Honestly I wasn't until I had a really severe crush on a particular guy that required me to know how to bake bread.
It's along tedious story...you don't want to know.

Anyway my grandma happened to be visiting us at the time and took me in hand and got me started. When she went back home she sent me a whole wheat cookbook made in her community. I still use it for bread and cinnamon rolls.

The guy never panned out, but I still love that bread baking!

 

[Beekissed]

I like that story!! I love all the stories associated with skills being passed along from one generation to the next.

 

[ninnymary]

Bee, and here I thought you were going to offer me some....

Mary

 

[Beekissed]

I can offer you the imagining of it....soft, silky and springy in texture, melted butter soaking into the yeasty goodness, flaky crust, and a grand symphony of flavor in the mouth! Break off a piece of it and dip it into the venison stew for the full effect of it all....

 

[aftermidnight]

Haven't made it in awhile being it's just the two of us but used to all the time when the family was at home. The only breads I've made in recent years is facaccia which I do quite often, I top it with olive oil and herbs and a just a smidge of salt.
I tried my hand at making chapati once, I baked it on a stone in the oven, turned out pretty good I should make it again.

Annette