On The Flip Side

I've sewn the binding all around the Magic Carpet quilt, so now I have flipped it over and am sewing down the hanging sleeve. There are two more episodes of Country Music still to come. I'm pretty sure I'll always look at this quilt and think of all the music I listened to while I did my hand sewing.



About the bread. Robby, I've been baking bread for over forty-five years. (Wow. That makes me sound ancient.) Anyway, you only need five ingredients to make bread: Flour, for the body of the bread; Yeast, to make the bread rise; a Sweetener (like sugar) to feed the yeast to make it grow; Salt, to regulate the growth of the yeast; and a Liquid to disperse the yeast.

You can also add fat to make the dough more tender. Eggs do this also. Your liquid can be water or milk or yogurt or sour cream or orange juice or even tomato juice. You can add sugar or maple syrup or honey or molasses or whatever the heck floats your boat. You can add seeds for texture: sesame, sunflower, chia, fennel, poppy. You could put nuts in it if you wanted.You can add cheese: ricotta, parmesan, cheddar, asiago or anything else. One of my family's favorites is a cheddar cheese bread with cheddar cheese, parmesan, lots of butter and some hot sauce (really.) It's awesome toasted with ham and mustard.

And no, I do not use a bread machine. I like kneading it with my hands. I can tell when it's ready by the way it feels. And I don't use a timer any more either. I bake it until it smells done.  But hey, I've got 45 years of experience...

a loaf of Challah before baking.

One other note: I've always said that no gift is better than a quilt, but a loaf of homemade bread comes damned close!

English Muffin Bread. Same five ingredients.

When I visit my extended family in Maryland, I often bake bread. I bake six loaves and watch as they literally devour one loaf as soon as it is cool to the touch. Then they promptly (an immediately) devour the second. (There are four kids.) 

They'll eat it plain, with nothing on it. Then again, a good loaf of bread doesn't need any adornment.