Bread Baking On A COLD Winter Day

An Arctic Blast arrived yesterday and we woke up to 9 degree temperatures; it will only get up to the low 20's today. The snow has melted and the sky is blue with a few floating white clouds. 

It's a holiday (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day), so no mail today. It would be a good day for warming up the house with some baking....bread baking day! 

Sometimes the bread machine is a quick way to make bread. It is fast and the bread is good but not like bread made from scratch...kneaded by hand and left to sit in a nice warm spot. On a cold winters day, the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven is a "memory smell" of warmth and family.

Here is my favorite recipe for Whole Wheat Bread. It was given to me during college home economics class in 1969!

Here are a few 60's college pics....

Now for the bread recipe!

WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

(2 LOAVES)

l 3/4 cups milk

2 tsp salt

l/3 cup oil (I use olive oil)

l/3 cup honey

l/2 cup cold water

2 eggs 

2 packages of yeast

6 cups of flour (approximately) 

          (I use 3 organic white and 3 organic whole wheat)

Summary of Procedure

Scald milk (scalding point is about 140 degrees F) and slightly cool it. Pour into a large bowl. Add salt, oil, honey, water, eggs and yeast. Be sure that liquid has cooled to lukewarm before adding eggs and yeast. Mix well. Sift (if desired) flour and add about 3-4 cups of flour to mixture. Mix well till the dough is the consistency of a cake. Let it stand 15 minutes. 

Add more flour until too thick to stir with a spoon. Work it with your hands and turn out on heavily floured surface. It is now time to knead (fold and push, adding flour as needed). Knead for about 10 to 20 minutes. Put back into same unwashed bowl, cover with a thin dish towel and place in a warm spot. Let the dough rise until it is about double in size. This takes about 45 minutes. Then push the dough down with fist in the middle of bowl. Pull the deflated dough up from the sides with your finger tips. Divide the dough into two parts. The dough at this point should be worked the least amount as possible. Shape into loaves. (Sometimes I'll make one loaf of bread, and use the other for rolls). Place in buttered loaf pans. Cover and let rise until double in size. Place in oven and set at 350 degrees F. For better rising, do not preheat oven. Bake about 1 hour.

ourkentuckyacre

Juliet