When you think you need therapy you might consider this. This week I talked to several people about making bread. One lady told me that her last loaf flopped. She thought may be her yeast was bad. I explained to her about blooming your yeast so that you know it is active. All you do is put warm water in a cup, add the yeast and a little sugar, and wait for it to react. If the yeast is good you will get some foamy stuff that cannot be stirred down.

We talked about how therapeutic the kneading process was. I love to knead the dough mixing in all of the flour. I know by the feel of the dough when it is ready to set aside to rise.

When I got to our church’s soup and Lenten service another man and I discussed the art of making bread. He told me that he liked to use his bread maker but his wife would have none of it. She preferred to make her own from scratch.

In defense of the bread maker, you do make it from scratch. You simply dump all of your ingredients into the hopper, turn the machine to the proper setting and wait. Typically, it takes close to three hours to make a big loaf of bread. What I love about using the bread maker is that there are a lot of workable recipes. I can vary the type of bread easily. Also, I get just one loaf which is fine for me.

When you do the old-fashioned method, it takes a little longer than that. Besides, it takes several steps.

All the talking about making bread made me hungry for homemade bread. The next day I started in early in the morning so that the bread would be ready for lunch. I bloomed my yeast, put the ingredients together, then kneaded in the last of the flour. When it was nice and smooth, I put it into the bowl, and put the bowl in the oven. My kitchen is not particularly warm so I preheated the oven to 200 degrees and shut it off.

After an hour I checked my bread. It had doubled in size so it was ready for the next step. I punched it down, then formed it into loaves. This time I made three small loaves. You can also make two larger loaves with the recipe which I will attach.

The recipe I use most for this type of bread is a mix of my mother-in-law’s recipe and a recipe I found on a package of oatmeal. Ethel called her bread “garbage bread” because she used up things in her refrigerator to make hers. After one Christmas she used some hard candy that she melted for the sugar. The substitution was fine except it turned the bread a funny color. It was kind of pink.

We all teased grandma, but the bread was still delicious. She knew that people loved her homemade bread so she made it often. Everyone was pleased to see the little loaves when she put them out on the table.

Often grandma served warm bread with butter and honey. The honey was gooey but it was so good with the bread. She also frequently put out cheese and meat or even peanut butter. When I serve it, I like to make a peanut butter spread that I had our in Amish country. I bought a cookbook to get the recipe along with others that we had for breakfast out there.

Dissolve yeast in warm water along with a pinch of sugar. To scalded milk, add shortening, salt, molasses, and honey. When this cools, add the yeast. Add oatmeal. Add flour one cup at a time until you have a workable dough. It may still be sticky at this point, but turn it out on your surface and begin to add the rest of the flour. The dough should not be sticky when you get the flour added, but it should be smooth and able to be handled. Put it into a large bowl. Let rise for an hour or until it doubles in size. Punch the dough down. Divide it into loaves – either two large ones or three smaller ones. I halved this recipe to make it easier for you. It can easily be doubled to make more loaves. If you are doubling the recipe do not double the yeast, but double everything else. Bake at 375 degrees for thirty minutes (this is for the smaller loaves). If you have made larger loaves bake for 45 – 50 minutes. The bread should sound hollow when you tap the bottom of the loaf.

Once you get good at this you can experiment and add applesauce, cooked carrots (buzzed up) or let your imagination run wild.

Mix well. Store at room temperature.

Hope you get brave enough to make homemade bread. It is so good and there are no preservatives!

Ann Swanson writes from her home in Russell, Pa. Contact at hickoryheights1@verizon.net.

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

DURHAM, N.C. – Many supporters of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University will ...

Yesterday began on a positive note. A girlfriend that I graduated with surprised me with a phone call. We do not ...

I have written before in this column about getting old, and sometimes have made an analogy likening it to owning a ...

Now, let’s see. With the United States having shut down some sources of domestic oil, energy prices have ...

Though I spent more than 50 years in the news business, I find myself watching less and less news. Doctors say ...

If you have food on your table, thank a farmer. If you have wooden furniture, thank a farmer. If you have maple ...

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

Copyright © Post Journal | https://www.post-journal.com | PO Box 3386, Jamestown, NY 14702 | 716-487-1111 | Ogden Newspapers | The Nutting Company