Fresh Baked Bread

Fresh Baked  Bread

Lately I have been thinking about baking some bread. Bread has been on my mind since I recently came across a spate of articles bashing the bakeries in San Francisco for serving four dollar slices of toast (places like Trouble Coffee & Coconut Club, The Mill and Tartine to name a few). To read the articles, you would have thought that it was the end of the world and the hipsters and techies were responsible. I was confused (or maybe I’m just jaded) but I don’t think $4 is too much for a great piece of toast. It’s not like they were serving Wonder Bread and margarine. It could also be that I know how much work goes into making a good loaf of bread and just how satisfying an exceptional piece of toast, warm and slathered with butter, can be. This is probably because of the freshly baked bread my grandmother used to make every week.  For her making bread was part of her routine and just business as usual in our house.

My grandmother was born in Hangtown, California, the daughter of California pioneers. She was an exceptional homemaker and an incredible baker.  As the story goes she began baking her own bread during the war because it was rationed. When the war was over, grandpa liked it so much that she continued making it on a regular basis. We were fortunate to live close by and spent a lot of time in grandma’s kitchen. She had an old Wedgwood stove, the kind that sat very high off the ground on four legs. I loved that old stove… so did grandma. Grandpa bought her a new top of the line ‘O’Keefe and Merritt’ in the 70’s, but she kept the Wedgwood in the garage and continued to use it. I reminisce about my grandparents’ house often. I can picture their kitchen and hear the screeching sound of the broiler drawer sliding out for melted cheese sandwiches while the Giants game played on the radio. The garage always smelled of Gravenstein apples from the garden that eventually ended up in apple sauce (another thing that we never had to buy at the store…Thank God!)  I am grateful for these special memories even though I get a little melancholy thinking about how much I miss my grandparents. But as the old saying goes, “you can never go home again”.

Kneading the dough

Before rising

After rising

Fortunately, what I can still do to honor my grandmother is bake bread using her recipe. Even though she never wrote it down, her recipe has been lovingly preserved by my sister Mary. Baking bread isn’t hard but it takes a little practice and you have to follow directions to a tee. It is chemistry and physics after all, and one goof can mean the difference between success and a bomb. Some of the steps that don’t seem important can make a big difference in the final product. Case in point: scalding the milk. The idea is to get the milk to a temperature of around 180° F. (but no higher) in order to denature the proteins in the milk which assist in the rising process. If you get the milk too hot and it boils or scorches, it will also have a negative effect on rising. Once you have scalded your milk it is also important to let it cool so it doesn’t kill the yeast. Another vital step is to find a warm place to let your dough rise, somewhere around 80° F. is ideal. If you have a ‘proofing’ setting on your stove you have it made. Dissolving your yeast in warm (but not hot) water is also important. It is probably hot enough out of the tap but check it out with a thermometer if you aren’t sure. You should be able to put a finger in it without burning it. For reasons like this the recipe might sound a little wordy. I hope I haven’t discouraged you from attempting to make bread. I remember getting a bit discouraged the first time I made bread and it didn’t come out. I am glad I kept trying, because not only does it get easier every time, but as the old saying goes, practice makes perfect. Grandma also made Cinnamon Bread every week. The basic bread recipe is for two loaves of white bread so it is easy to make one into cinnamon bread. My favorite sandwich when I was growing up was a toasted ‘Ham Salad Sandwich’ served ‘open faced’. We referred to the ham salad as ‘Ham Goop’, not the most appetizing name if you didn’t hear it all the time growing up, but delicious just the same.

As I sit here after baking bread for the best part of the day and writing this post I am feeling very reminiscent. I even decided to go all out and make some Ham Goop to go along with the bread. I am enjoying the lingering smell of fresh baked bread and a toasty Ham Goop Sandwich. Then, all of a sudden I realize that I am no longer melancholy…I am home.

White Bread

This recipe is for 2 basic loaves of white bread.

Cinnamon Bread

When I bake bread, I make one into cinnamon bread. This recipe calls for 1 of the 2 balls of dough from the above recipe.

Adding cinnamon and sugar for fresh baked bread

Cinnamon bread right out of the oven

Hot cinnamon bread right out of the oven with butter

Ham Goop

This is your basic ham salad recipe that we always referred to as “Ham Goop”. I still make it the same way my grandmother did, but sometimes I add a little grated cheddar. I don’t think grandma would have objected.

Ham Goop Sandwich