Posted on 04/12/2005 4:24:03 PM PDT by SJackson
I do it half in the machine, half by hand. I let the machine do the mixing and some rising, then I pull it out, hand knead it, shape it how I want it, then do the second rise (or 3rd, I'm not real precise, I pretty much set the machine on "pizza dough" then pull it out and do my own thing with it :lol: .
I have carpal tunnel in one hand so minimizing the kneading helps my wrists. But finishing it up myself is satisfying, plus since we really like crust around here I usually end up making rolls, not bread.
LQ
The first project My family undertook nearly eight years ago, when we got our first mighty 486 computer, was to produce a family cookbook.
My mother and my mother-in-law both had personal cookbooks that included hadwritten recipes and clippings. We scanned the handwritten ones and typed in the clippings. We printed out the results, one recipe per page, put them in clear plastic sleeves, and made books for ourselves, our children and our siblings.
My Grama got the bread started every Sunday morning while making breakfast. There was so much to do that I just always remember working on bread with her.
Later, when I moved out in the country myself and my house didn't have central heat I used bread baking to heat the house. At that time the bread-baking between us kinda switched from her to me. She always looked forward to me driving up with a nice warm loaf when the weather got cold. It was a nice circle. She swore I baked the best bread, but mine is exactly how she made it every Sunday of my kidhood. :-)
Shut up, dope.
That's OK. I love biscuits, with gravy or just butter n' jam.
Great story...my mom always made homemade bread, coffee cakes and such...I always loved the smell of the bread, while rising...the smell of yeast was all over the house, and we knew something yummy was coming...
When my boys were growing up, during the winter months, Sunday, was always homemade bread, and homemade soup day...I made lots of different sorts of bread all day long, and had a big pot of one sort or another of homemade soup going on the stove...
That sure brings back lots of wonderful memories...
My 9 year old learned to bake bread this past winter. She makes wonderful bread though I usually help knead. We make four loaves at a time and the dough is too much for her to handle for the 20 minutes of kneading my recipe calls for. I usually do the initial kneading and when the ball is contained I let her finish.
My grandmother was a baker extraordinaire. While I was growing up (forties & fifties) she baked everything, from bread to laced crust pies.
Of course, being as my grandfather was a baker by trade, it kind of ran in the family.
This should make you laugh. My grandmother, who raised six children, even polished my grandfathers high top work shoes every night, including the soles, and had them sitting just outside the kitchen door ready for him at 2am when he went to work.
She was quite the woman. I still can hear her saying ... "Buddy, do you want a cookie?" ;)
My grandmother was raising kids and helping with grandfather's lumber business in Czechoslovakia during WWII. In addition to her regular work, she had to deal with wartime shortages and air raids. Recipes had to be modified to work around missing ingredients. They made their own beer, wine, ersatz coffee, and bread, of course. Clothing was carefully mended and altered to accommodate children's growth during the long years of shortages during and after the war.
One of my great treasures is grandmother's treadle Singer sewing machine. My relatives recently arranged to ship it to me. When I think of the countless hours she sat at that machine, sewing for her family, I'm inspired by her love and diligence. I didn't have much time with her because of the Iron Curtain years, but the memories are good ones.
* bump *
We must be related as my ancestors came from Bohemia. ;)
It's not a very big nation - we could be related. Mom's family is from Moravia (Zdar nad Sazavou) and Dad's is from Bohemia (Pardubice area). Where do your ancestors hail from?
my mother in law taught me how to make bread and I loved kneeding the dough and waiting for it to rise...but the best part is how it smelled while it was baking and how it tasted!
Ah, memories.
"Bout ready to get together and get some bread baking?"
hee hee yeah.
Heh, Maybe that's what we both need! :-)
Thanks for posting, it sure brings back memories.
My grandmother taught me to make bread, my mother made great biscuits, but never caught the hang of making bread. I did, though, and taught my daughter and DIL.
Over last Christmas, the grandkids and I made bread together, then braided the dough after the first rising, made it into a wreath, let it rise again, and baked it into a huge brown round loaf...at Christmas supper they could hardly wait to break the hot loaf, and dip it in melted garlic butter...
The smell of nearly finished bread in the oven--one of the best things about being alive...
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