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~

100% Whole Wheat Bread

1.) Grind about 12 cups of wheat berries. If making multi-grain, add a total of 1 ½ - 2 cups of mixed grains, (black beans, sunflowers, oats, brown rice, etc). For reference, 1 cup of berries = 1 ½ cups flour. This batch will make about 7 loaves.

2.) Place 5 ½ cups water on stove to warm.

3.) Mix in Bosch bowl on speed one for one minute:
¾ cup oil
¾ cup honey
4 teaspoons salt

4.) Then Add:5 ½ cups warm water
8 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour
3 ½ Tbsp. yeast

5.) Mix and allow to set for 10 minutes,
this gives the enzymes a chance to develop; (this step is optional).

6.). Set timer for 10 minutes, turn Bosch mixer on speed one and begin adding:
1 egg
1 Tbsp. vinegar
2 Tbsp. lecithin, (makes it softer and lighter).
If you would like whole grains in your bread, (obvious to the eye), add them here. (Sunflowers, flax seed, raisins, etc.)**
8-9 more cups of the flour:
added slowly until the sides of the bowl are dough free. Remembering that the Bosch grinds hard and sounds intense, but is doing its job. At this point the dough should not be sticky to the touch. If needed, add more flour slowly.

7.) Remove dough and knead slightly to remove air bubbles, form into loaves and cover with olive oil. Place in greased pans and let rise for 30-35 minutes or until the bread has risen nicely rounded, higher than the top of the bread pans.

8.) Bake in preheated oven at 350* until golden brown, 25-30 minutes.

9.) Remove hot bread from pans, let set about 5 minutes, and place into bread bags. Drape ends of bags loosely over bread & allow to cool for 1 ½ hours. Slice bread and freeze or eat fresh, (if eating fresh, do not slice it until you are ready to eat it, keeps longer in loaf form).

ENJOY THE WORK OF YOUR HANDS!!

of new aprons & little helpers

I got a new apron. It matches my kitchen and makes me want to bake all sorts of yummy things. I found it on ebay, it came to me from Kearney, NE and cost me $7. It is vintage in the best of every way, a handy pocket on the right side, long ties on either side and great rickrack detail. There's something comforting about putting this apron on. Somewhere at sometime another woman lovingly wore this apron while she too provided for her family. I love being connected to the past. Here's my little helper. He loves pulling the "schtooley," (bar stool in PA dutch) over to "help" me pour, mix, sprinkle, beat and stir. Here we are making zucchini bread. I added these delicious treats and it gave it such a yummy, minty flavor.


I must have been feeling very ambitious because I doubled the recipe, (which is already large) and I was putting stuff in the oven for hours! Well, now I have loaves to share and isn't that point? Thanks for dropping by today, it's a cozy Monday. Here's the recipe if you'd like to give it a go:
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325*
Beat eggs until light and frothy, (the key to making this delicious I do believe)!
Mix in oil & sugar.
Stir in zucchini and vanilla.
Combine remaining ingredients and add to egg mixture.

Bake for 60-70 minutes, (depending on the size of your loaf pan, smaller pans = less time).