Bread

Ward's Grandmother Leanna

 Ward's grandmother, Leanna, suffered enormous tragedy in her young family's life. Her husband went down on a ship in the Atlantic during WWII, never to be seen again, and a few months later, her 7-year-old son died from a playground accident. I can't even imagine what she went through.

She told me once that as she was trying to cope with these devastating events, a doctor told her she needed to do something for herself. She needed to buy herself something frivolous that she didn't need. She took his advice, and it helped. Over the years, she kept up the tradition and made sure to get herself something that wasn't absolutely necessary each year. She applied that same philosophy to the gifts she gave.

So, when she gave me $200 for Christmas one year, I was instructed to buy something that I wouldn't normally buy but would enjoy. I was at a loss about what to do, since I wasn't a big shopper and tended to shop pragmatically when I did. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to get myself a bread machine. This was over 30 years ago, and bread machines were relatively new. Having a machine produce freshly baked bread sounded like a guilty pleasure, indeed. (And yes, back then, they were new enough that they did cost $200).

Our Panasonic Bread Machine still works like new.

We have used the bread machine on and off over the years, but until recently, we hadn't used it for a long time. Last week, I had a hankering for fresh bread, so I tried making a loaf. I forgot to add the salt, so it wasn't very good. I tried again. This time, I made sure to add the salt. It was okay, but like the first loaf, it didn't rise much. The yeast was new, so I looked at the bread flour I was using, and it expired in 2021. Maybe that was the culprit. It doesn't seem like flour should get old, but I guess it does.

One more time, I tried making a loaf of bread with fresh King Arthur bread flour and fresh yeast. Bingo! We got a delicious loaf of bread.  Ward and I promptly had several slices of it, buttered. Delicious!

Success!

Now that I finally have the basics in place again, I think it's time to experiment with different kinds I remember making a long time ago. We're usually not big bread eaters, but the newfound interest in the bread machine may change that.

Thank you, Leanna, for making me get something that I would never have gotten without your encouragement. And for something that we are still enjoying all of these many years later.

Until next time...