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Bread and gratitude

The other day I was making another couple loaves of bread in my ever-useful mixer and I started thinking about my paternal grandmother and wondering about how much bread she baked for her family. A little back story: My dad was the youngest of twelve children born into a family of farmers who struggled during the Great Depression and ended up losing at least one farm. By the time I came along as the youngest of the youngest, my grandma had dementia and so I like to hear stories about her younger years and all of the creative energy she used to feed, clothe and nourish so many children. Two out of the twelve children survive today and one of them is my sweet & feisty Aunt Rosey. I emailed her to ask about my grandma’s bread baking (what kind of stove,flour, how often she baked…) and she sent this bit of information:

I treasure this memory-gift from Aunt Rosey. She tells it like it was (difficult) and yet she wraps it all in gratitude.

Here’s a tried and true recipe I like to use. I wish I could credit the author but I don’t have the information. I like his folksy way of telling us how to make bread—lots of helpful hints.

Great Sandwich Bread

Measuring: When measuring the flour, fluff it with a spoon and then spoon it into the measuring cup and level but DO NOT PACK. This is the most important thing for getting consistency.

5 ½ C bread flour
1 TBS salt
2 ½ tsp rapid rise or bread machine yeast
16 oz very warm water
1 TBS olive oil
2 TBS honey
(I add in 4 TBS flax seed)

Place all dry ingredients in the mixer bowl but don’t turn on mixer. In a separate container, place the warm water and add the oil first and then the honey, using the same measuring spoon, as the oil will keep the honey from sticking to the spoon.

Stir the liquids together and stir them, then turn on the mixer with dough hook installed to low speed for 15 seconds. Then add the liquid mixture all at once and turn the mixer to its lowest speed for about a minute and a half—until ingredients are pretty well together and shut it off. Let it rest this way for 10 minutes.

Turn the mixer to the second speed and let it run 3 minutes. Remove the dough hook and turn the dough onto a floured board or table. Knead 3 or 4 times to get the air bubbles out.

Place it in an oiled bowl (you can put it back in the mixer bowl) and put it in a warm place, like your oven with a cloth draped over it for 1 hour. At the end of the hour, punch it down and turn it onto the floured surface and knead another three or four times. Form loaves and put into 2 loaf pans.

Put them in the same warm place with a cloth draped over them and let them rise 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is the color you like. If you put a small pan of water on the rack below the bread, it will make the crust softer and chewier. Remove from pans and let cool at least 30 minutes on a wire rack.

I usually brush the tops with olive oil because it softens the crust a bit and makes the loaves look nice.

This bread has a wonderful flavor and keeps very well.