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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

BREAD DAY.

About a year ago my sister & I started making our own bread from scratch.

Now before your mind starts playing tricks on you and SHOUTING or whispering self-deprecating thoughts, all that *stuff* us women, (or perhaps it's just me) are so good at......please know that it REALLY DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU BUY OR MAKE YOUR OWN BREAD.


It doesn't make you any better or worse.

You don't care any less about your husband or children if you feed them white bread.

and you aren't any better because you make them whole wheat bread.



Ok, now that that's out of the way,
here's a little peek into our weekly "BREAD DAY."



We buy 50lbs of wheat berries and grind them into flour.


The Vita-Mixer is one of my favorite and most versatile kitchen appliances.

Helpers usually show up.

and a certain little girl gets to wear a matching apron!

xoxo.


the ingredients are waiting within arms reach.


the Bosch bread mixer makes this a *simple* and *enjoyable* process.




the recipe past down from my cousin Martha.
She graciously invited my sister and I to learn from her in her kitchen
with a step-by-step, hands on day of making bread.

If you're interested in the recipe you can find it here.







*and a special THANK YOU goes out to my bread baking partner & sister Vonnie for MAKING that "Fresh Bread" sign for my kitchen* Perfect!



once the dough is ready you can do lots of things with it:
*cinnamon rolls*
*bread sticks*
*loaves*
*Stromboli*

cheesy thai bread sticks.
heaven between dough.



making loaves of bread.
helpers with clean hands are welcome.


but my favorite is to be all alone, just me and the dough.
It makes me feel so connected to the work of my hands.
Something literal and physical, something I can SEE forming, provision before my eyes. I am reminded again of my BASIC needs here on earth. Not just spiritually, but physically. WE HAVE SO MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR. Food to make and food to eat.....whenever we want!!!


"But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” Psalm 81:16


So often when I *work* around home, (as you well know) it gets undone
so quickly and is back to square one in no time at all.
This is all fine and good, it's where I'm at in life right now, I understand that.
But there's something about making bread that lasts.......


well, for a week anyway!

Weighing the loaves so they bake evenly in size.
The vintage scale was used by my Mom
TO WEIGH HER CHILDREN.
She would put us on a cookie sheet and then lay it on top.
LOVE that!

She passed it on to me as a gift for my 30th birthday.
Very, very special.


bread rising.


the smell of bread baking....there's nothing quite like it.

Dear Yankee candle company, would you please capture this smell?
Kindly, Janelle.


the finished product.


feeding my hard workin' man!!


FRESH DELICIOUSNESS.




"There are people in the world so hungry,
that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread."
~Mahatma Gandhi~

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

i'm right in the middle.
don't buy white bread, but don't make my own whole wheat bread. I buy whole wheat!

more power to you girl.

love your holiday card!

Mimy said...

MMMMmmmm I can almost smell it from here!

Shelly said...

Yum! . . . and in between bread making and all the other things you are busy with right now . . . do you ever take you massage skills "on the road." I just had my baby and need some "kink removal" from this body. Do you or anyone else you know come to people's homes?? Pease contact me if you do/or know of someone. philandshelly(at)epix(dot)net. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

The smell is coming through my computer screen! Those cheesy bread sticks look amazing! :)

Angela Stoltzfus said...

ok- i'm officially inspired!!
the kitchen & i don't have a good relationship...but i've been thinking & thinking & it's probably time i started making this deliciousness too! maybe i'll hop over & "watch" next time!

Dana said...

Oh I love seeing Pais in her little apron. She was sooo tiny when I made it for her! Proof she's getting big!!
-Dana

Mary June Miller said...

YUM!! I have great memories from my childhood from this exact recipe! YUM YUM YUM!! MJ

Anne Smucker said...

My mom used to make her bread with the exact same good old Bosch mixer :)

Heather Buckwalter said...

love love your new header picture. such a great shot of you and your family.
love,heather

Our Life Version 6.0 said...

J-Thanks for that opening statement. I so often read a blog and feel bad that I haven't sewed that dress or made that handmade ornament. Thanks so much for those encouraging words!

Terri said...

YUMmy!!!! I just finished lunch, so I'm not sure how it's possible, but this post just made my stomach growl! Love that you do your bread baking with your sister and your mom's old scale...precious memories!

Gina said...

I LOVE your kitchen! And I too love making bread! Thanks for capturing some of the bread baking joy in your post! I have bread raising right now and soon I'll have that wonderful aroma in the house!
Gina