How to Bake Perfectly Wonderful Bread

Grandma lived in a place called Waterloo County in Ontario, Canada. It was first settled by Mennonites from Pennsylvania and the language and colloquialisms of the region were said to be 'Pennsylvania Dutch'. It was really Pennsylvania Deutch (sounds like doy-ch) which is German for, well,German. Kitchener, a major city in this region, was known as Berlin until 1916 when WWI dictated a name change.

Needless to say, this regional heritage resulted in some of the best food I've ever tasted. Mennonites knew every tasty dish ever devised by man or so it seems. For years, there was a market every Saturday where you could buy homemade summer sausage that was so good it made your toes curl. The cheeses were beyond description other than to say they transported one to another plane where angels sing. While the Kitchener Market survives, some of these delights are no longer available because of changes in the law with regard to how food is handled for public sale.

This is where my grandmother lived, cooked, baked, and traded recipes. She always made her own bread and would be up before 5 a.m. to ensure it was ready for breakfast. Her bread was absolutely delicious!

	Food That Really Schmecks (Life Writing) Amazon Price: $27.55 List Price: $34.95
	More Food That Really Schmecks Amazon Price: $11.78 List Price: $18.95
	To Experience Wonder: Edna Staebler: A Life Amazon Price: $20.61 List Price: $27.00

When I found myself on a lighthouse on Canada's west coast, it was like being transported back in time, at least as far as the kitchen is concerned. There is no take-out on a lighthouse. If you want a certain dish, you make it yourself. This was before I had found my grandmother's notebook so it happened that I turned to Edna Staebler because she had written cookbooks that harkened back to my grandmother's day and these were the comfort recipes I craved.

I've used Food That Really Schmecksmore often than The Joy, if that's possible. They are available for sale on Amazon and I list them here because I know them inside out and can't say enough about the good common sense cooking that leaps from the pages onto your plate almost effortlessly! The second one, More Food That Really Schmecks, is great because it fed my insatiable quest for more of the same kind of cooking.

The first two are cookbooks and one should acquire them in that order. The last is the story of the remarkable woman who wrote them.

Basic Recipe

• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 1 teaspoon organic cane sugar
• 2 tablespoons yeast granules

Dissolve the sugar in the water. Sprinkle the yeast and let sit for about 10 minutes. The yeast will rise to the surface and foam. Stir until it is all very well blended and no clumps remain. Then add:

• 2 cups lukewarm water
• 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
• 1 heaping tablespoon sea salt or Himalayan salt
• 1/2 cup good oil (sunflower, organic canola etc)

Add one cup at a time:

• about 9 cups of flour (I use 3 or 4 cups of organic whole wheat flour and the rest unbleached organic white flour)

Yes, I bake bread all the time and it's easy!

We don't buy bread at our house because I bake three loaves at a time. Sounds like a lot, you say? Not really. The first loaf is gone while the last slice is still warm; that is a bit of an exaggeration but not much of one. The second loaf is dispatched the second day and might make toast on the third day. Meanwhile, the third loaf is in the freezer, ready to be used whenever we need it.

I know what you are thinking. Frozen bread tastes stale and makes terrible sandwiches. That's the beauty of this recipe. The bread is so soft and fresh that even when it has been in the freezer, it is delightful!

You don't have time? If you drink coffee on a Sunday morning, the yeast can be bubbling while you sip and read email. It takes only 10 minutes or so. It takes the same amount of time to make three loaves as it does to make one. There's some mixing, some kneading and the rest is just remembering to check it before it balloons out of the bowl.

This recipe is based on one from the first book called "Neil's Harbour White Bread". I've changed it a bit to suit my own system of doing things as you will no doubt do as well. This is the best recipe I've ever tried and there have been many.

1. First, dissolve the yeast in a separate bowl, add the other ingredients once it has foamed and you've stirred it well.
2. Then transfer the liquids it to your mixer but warm the metal bowl first. With the regular beater in place, start adding whole wheat flour one cup at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Once you have added 3 cups of the whole wheat flour, beat it for several minutes. You will see it change as the gluten develops and it will start looking elastic and stringy. This is exactly what you want.
4. Switch to the dough hook if you have one and add the rest of the flour, a cup at a time and reserving the last cup for kneading in by hand. Once the flour starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and form a ball around the dough hook, you can remove it from the machine and start kneading in the rest of the flour by hand.
5. Knead it for about 10 minutes by hand. You want the dough smooth and elastic, not too sticky and not too hard either. You can toss in a quick grab of butter and knead it in if you like. It helps to condition the dough and may relieve some stickiness.
6. Form the dough into a ball, rub butter from your hands over the surface of the dough and pop it into a large pottery bowl about 10 inches across and 6 inches deep. I use a crock pot bowl that I've lightly greased and it works well.
7. Loosely cover the dough with waxed paper, a damp tea towel, or plastic wrap and then top with a nice warm sweater or thick snuggly towel. Put the bowl where it is out of the draft and let it sit until it has doubled in size, about an hour and a half
8. Punch it down. Divide in three and shape into loaves. Place in well-buttered,not oiled, loaf pans. If you use oil, the bread will stick to the pans.
9. Let rise again, covered as before. It won't take as long this time though - maybe an hour.
10. Bake in a preheated 400˚F oven for 20 minutes. Remove from pans, put on rack to cool and brush a little butter on the tops.

Helpful Hints

Bread needs a nice warm place to rise and it's often hard to find a good spot where it can be undisturbed. I put mine in the oven and leave the light on. There is just enough warmth from the bulb to keep things cozy.

Don't worry if you get called away in the middle of mixing or kneading. Just cover the dough with some plastic wrap or a damp towel and punch it down when you get back. Bread is very easy.

It can rise several times and it is better to do that than to let it rise too much and overtake the house.

There is nothing to match the taste of bread fresh from the oven. When you cut it, turn the loaf on its side to avoid squishing the bread. Use a good serrated bread knife and don't push down! Use an easy back and forth sawing motion and you will get the perfect slice! This bread freezes beautifully.