Thursday, October 23, 2008

I made bread this morning

This time of year, I have a strong desire to cook and bake. I've been doing well with keeping things nutritious and low-fat until today. I was reaching into the deep freeze and noticed a bag of whole-wheat flour I inherited from my sister-in-law when she divorced and moved.

"I should throw that out," I thought.

Then that baking urge came upon me, and I started recalling my little-house-on-the-prairie days: We had a tiny house on twenty acres, and I raised gardens and canned the produce and washed on a wringer washer and raised hogs and milked a cow... really, I did, and all that with two babies!

And for some four or five years, I baked all our bread.

So this morning, for the first time in years, I made some bread.

There are two reasons I don't have a bread machine. First, I'm afraid that would make it so easy to make bread, we'd gain weight from eating too much of it. Second, I love to knead bread, getting it to just the right elasticity.

Honestly, I would have preferred white bread, but knowing there were three cups of whole wheat flour (fiber, you know) eased the guilt I felt for cooking something in which I knew we'd overindulge. And drench in butter, even.

It came out of the oven looking pretty decent. The pans I used, by the way, are the same ones I used in the old days when my children were babies.

I've always smeared the tops of home-made bread with butter so the crust is softer. I sliced both loaves, and I'll put them in the freezer; we'll get a couple of slices out at a time. Otherwise we'd either eat too much, or it would go stale before we ate it all.

And that's about the only useful thing I've done today.

I've played around with widgets for this blog, adding two stat-counters that I'll probably remove before long. I still like my Sitemeter best.

I've added a local temperature widget.

I find these goodies, by the way, reading YOUR blogs. I see something I like and I check it out.

I've made playlists and added them to my blog... one folk and one rock. I did not set either of them to play when someone comes to this site, because self-starting music on blogs annoys me; I'm often listening to my own music, and I don't really enjoy having somebody else's songs suddenly start playing while I have one going. If you're ever curious as to what music I like, there it is on the left (the rock one is waaaaaay down the page.) I don't listen to that much rock, and I may remove it later.

I'd be very surprised if anyone shares my taste for folk music. I like it because it's honest and down-to-earth. Most folk singers sound like they could be singing right here in my living room, and I like that.

So that's my rambling for today.

17 comments:

  1. Fresh baked bread and folk music?? I'm sooooo, there!! :)

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  2. I have a bread machine, but I don't use it very often. I SHOULD. Although, I like your loaf pans. I can't find any that size....all I find are ones suitable for quickbread...smaller, you know?

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  3. I also butter my loaves and rolls when they come out of the oven. I have a bread maker but it only makes a loaf at a time and I never make less than 2, so it's rarely used.

    And, I don't make bread often for the same reason as you - if I make it, we eat it!

    Have a great Thursday. It's cool and rainy here and getting chillier by the minute. I love Fall!

    Love and hugs,

    Diane

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  4. That bread looks sooooo good! Still hot....Mmmmmmm

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  5. Anonymous3:55 PM

    wow! can you teach me how to make breads? I only master baking but never tried this. Hope I would be able to learn soon.

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  6. The bread looks delicious... better than the breadmachine .... I should make some too but everytime I do I gain weight but nothing tastes better with melted butter and homemade raspberry jam
    Sandra

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  7. Anonymous4:46 PM

    wow Donna...freshly baked bread...and me with a pint jar of "homemade" apple butter just looking for something to use it on LOL...I have a bread making machine...but it is packed away...cause like you...I would make and eat too much...I love my bread...but it is one of those "no no's" we must abide by...but maybe I will just get that machine out??? hmmmm...fall...fresh bread...leaves falling from trees...yuppers...sound good..gonna get that machine out...LOLOL...hugs and God Bless...enjoy that bread...hugs from Ora in KY

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  8. Anonymous5:05 PM

    Dee from Tennessee

    Talk about looking delicious....that bread looks so so good.

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  9. It looks like you haven't lost your touch. That loaf of bread looks pretty perfect to me. I'm like you and had my 'little house' days. We didn't live on 20 acres but I had a garden and canned etc. and made bread too. I'm always amazed at what I did along with caring for a growing family. I'm lucky to take care of myself now.
    Glad you had a good day and shared the bread so to speak...My lips have drool on them just thinking about it. 'On Ya' - ma

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  10. I used a bread machine so much that it finally locked up, and you are right you can't stop eating it.

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  11. Your bread looks just beautiful!! That is awesome you have wonderful memories of your "Little House" days. You know I am a fan of that show and loved all the books. I think it's great you got to actually live the experience. I don't know how you did it with two little ones. Keeps a person fit and energetic that's for sure. I enjoy gardening and sewing as if I lived in those days... but I am partial to my washing machine, dw and all the modern conveniences at the same time. I wouldn't mind wearing the long dresses and bonnets though. LOL. And I would love to live in a log cabin with the modern conveniences. We still dream about that for our future one day.
    Lisa

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  12. PS I have a bread maker I have not tried yet.... I am really anxious to give it a whirl.

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  13. Anonymous7:21 PM

    Hello Dear Lady.
    I have missed reading you for far to long. Yet my Northern circumstances time wise aren't about to improve much any too soon.
    I got to say for all those years my Frieda backed bread I could always tell well after the fact that she had been mad(?), cross(?), unhappy(?), disgusted with my behavior(?); I'm sure you get the idea. For it was during those days of loves devotion homemade was always better than boughtin‘. What I want to say, "Frieda's bread was always the better, had she'd been out-of-sorts with me,” whether I had known it or not until a couple days later. (grin) For the madder she’d been at me the hard or more sever the beating her bread dough had taken before it’d gone into the final baking pan! (consider me wearing a **** eating grin here) (smiles)
    Now that I’ve found you, consider yourself Bookmarked!!!
    Fernan

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  14. I love homemade bread. Love it. Hardly ever make it though. I don't like when music starts up either.

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  15. Your fresh baked bread looks yummy! There's not better then hot bread and butter. I'm like you, I don't make it often because I gain weight just looking at it, LOL.
    Hugs,
    Pat

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  16. Hmm! I recall my mom used to bake bread every now and then. But she used frozen loaves of bread dough. A shortcut, yes, but the bread was still pretty tasty and certainly different from the supermarket kind.

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  17. I will be back in the saddle again I promise. can you send me Rach link to her blogger blog?

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