Bread Baking Day (with a quilt side show as an added bonus)

While I cannot claim to be a bread baking expert, I enjoy doing it.  I enjoy the eating of fresh baked bread even more!  There is nothing like a slice of warm homemade bread with butter or homemade jam or jelly.  It just doesn't get much better.

Baking bread is an art, of sorts.  There is still much I need to master.  There have been times when I have crafted a beautiful brick.  Then there are times when this happens:




This lovely bowl made three medium sized loaves, (of which I should have taken a picture...I'm still getting the hang of this) that turned out great!  Sometimes I like to use the smaller pans since it is just the two of us and there is nothing like putting all this work into something so wonderful and then have it go stale.

You will notice the kitchen towel.  It is from my great-aunt.  After she died the extended family was given the opportunity to see if there was anything they wanted.  There were still old clothes from another great-aunt.  I was able to get this kitchen towel, which needed a wee bit of mending, and an old house dress.  I used the house dress in a small quilt that I made for my Amish rocker.  That way I'll have a piece of her with me.

She was a large, Scots-Irish woman who never married.  Of course, she made her own clothes and to have something that she made that I could use the fabric, makes my quilt extra special.  Here is a piece of the fabric I used in the quilt.

It gives me joy to have pieces, no matter how small, that are part of our family's past.  It gives me a connection.  There is something about a thing that is passed down--not just material things, but a faith that has been passed down as well.  Just as Timothy's faith was passed down from his mother and grandmother.  There is a legacy that is more important than any "thing".

Thou has made known to me
   that to save me is Christ's work,
   but to cleave to him by faith is my work,
   and with this faith is the necessity of my daily repentance
   as a mourning for the sin which Christ by grace has removed.
--from Reconciliation  from the Valley of Vision

The Joys of Fresh Bread

Something about today led me to make bread and rolls from scratch. Is it the dreary, dampness to the day or is it that winter turns me into a baking machine? Wait till Christmas cookies start!

There is something wonderful about making bread. It warms the heart and the kitchen.

There is the whole idea of creating something wholesome for the family. From the beginning, you can choose your own ingredients. Eggs, which type of flour, oil or shortening, a bit of applesauce, leftover mashed potatoes, oatmeal, there are so many possibilities to create a delightful loaf of bread or basket of rolls.

Kneading is so satisfying. When your lump of sticky, dough becomes a soft smooth ball, there is a sense of achievement and a connection with the past. This is something that my grandmothers did. And can there be a more wonderful fragrance to fill the home? Fresh baked bread is such a comfort food.

I must confess that my rolls don't look like the ones in the store, neither does my bread. They are not 'perfect' very often. It is just something I really like to do.

So, while sewing needs completed and the sweeper needs run, I am enjoying making bread and rolls.

Someday, when I grow up, I would love to make bread to sell. Until then, I will enjoy the practice.