Bread: The Staff of Life
By Janet Peterson

Bread is often called the "staff of rye, life." In one form or another - rye, brioche, whole wheat loaves, or sourdough bread - it is basic to dinner in most cultures. Bread, freshly made, is one of the most welcomed foods you can offer your family.

A trip to Europe means sampling wonderful breads (and yogurt... and chocolate!). When my husband served his mission in southern Germany, he and his companion would buy long loaves of bread at a neighborhood Bäckerei. The two missionaries would carry the loaves, wrapped in paper, under their arms as they rode their bikes, pedaling as fast as they could to get back to their apartment to eat the fresh, hot bread. Those continental patisseries, Bäckerei, and bake shops sell marvelous arrays of hard-crusted baguettes, croissants, Brötchen, pumpernickel, and ciabatta. Alas, for most of us, European jaunts happen only once in a while. Every now and then, however, one finds a fabulous neighborhood bakery, whose bake-ovens produce great breads similar to European ones.

Americans aren't in the habit of stopping at bakeries for daily bread as Europeans do. We have (for better or worse) loaves of bread whose shelf lives extend for days. One of my friends, quoting her mother, will sometimes say, "That's the best thing since sliced bread." Most of us won't remember a time when there was no such thing as sliced bread on the grocery store shelves.

Years ago, the advent of sliced bread eliminated the necessity for many women of making bread at home. Sliced bread, packaged in plastic bags and made to last longer than a day or two, provided a convenience unknown to previous generations. Of course, bakeries have offered fresh bread for centuries, but that meant shopping daily as preservative-free fresh bread becomes stale quickly.

There are probably very few homes now where the only bread eaten is homemade. There are probably many homes where the only bread eaten is purchased. Sliced bread that comes in a plastic bag, no matter the brand or the variety, just doesn't taste quite the same as a slice of homemade bread. Making bread from time to time is a gift for your family, an extra that tells them they're important in your life. Hot bread fresh from the oven or toasted homemade bread is comfort food supreme. The aroma of bread baking is pure olfactory pleasure.

My grandmother was a wonderful bread-maker. Her bread skills were honed by the twice weekly batches she made for her six children. Breadmaking was a necessity as she raised her family before sliced bread came on the market. Grandma continued to make bread throughout her life, though in lesser quantities. How I remember the aroma and taste of her wonderful bread!

Only in her late eighties did she consent to get a bread mixer (not bread maker) because her arthritic hands could no longer knead the dough. Although her bread still tasted delicious to us, she claimed it just wasn't the same.

A good bread rounds out a meal or is ample accompaniment to a bowl of soup or dinner salad. Haul out your bread mixer, bread machine, or large bowl, study a few cookbooks to try out a new recipe or use an old favorite, and make some bread this week. You'll definitely have some appreciative eaters.

Here are some favorite observations about bread.

"Bread is a great comfort food. To me, the smell of freshly baked bread is better than the most expensive perfume. When I was a Realtor and had open houses for sale, I would often defrost a loaf of commercial frozen bread and bake it in the house I was showing because it made the house feel like home (Rita M. Harris, Comfort Foods (Roseville, CA: Prima Publishing, 1996), 35).

The smell of bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight (M. F. K. Fisher, quoted in Kate Rowinksi, ed., The Quotable Cook (New York: The Lyons Press, 2000, 93).

Talk of joy: there may be things better than beef stew and baked potatoes and homemade bread - there may be (David Grayson, quoted in Kate Rowinksi, ed., The Quotable Cook (New York: The Lyons Press, 2000, 123).

For me the smell of bread baking will always evoke memories of warmth, of nourishment, and of family (Emily Puro, "A Legacy of Loaves," Better Homes and Gardens, Oct. 2004, 288).

So many of my childhood memories are of a wonderful mother who cooked. Coming home from school on a snowy day would mean a warm fire and the smell of homemade bread baking (Katye McGuire Landro, in Heirlooms from Our Families, Redhawk California Ward cookbook, Dec. 2005).

Here are a couple of bread recipes you might try.

Kathleen McGuire's White Bread

With a bread mixer, which eliminates kneading by hand, making bread is quick and easy. There are few things as welcomed by family members as homemade bread.

1 cup warm water
4 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 quart warm water
1 cup sugar
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 tablespoon salt
6-7 cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in 1 cup water in bowl or a large measuring cup. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar over top and let yeast activate for a few minutes. Put yeast into bread mixer. Add 1 quart water, sugar, butter, salt, and 2 cups flour. Mix until thoroughly blended. Add 2-3 more cups flour; mix. Add more flour, a ½ cup or cup at a time, until dough pulls away from side of bowl. Mix for 10 minutes.

Form bread into 3-4 loaves and put into greased 4¼x8½- or 5x9-inch loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled in size. (Rising times vary depending on room temperature, yeast, and flour.)

Heat oven to 400º.

Bake for 10 minutes at 400º. Turn heat down to 350º and bake for 30 minutes. Remove bread from pans and cool on racks.

Makes 3-4 loaves.

Onion-Herb Batter Bread

Vary this bread with different herbs for exciting new tastes.

½ cup milk, scalded
1½ tablespoons sugar
1½ teaspoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
2 to 2¼ cups flour
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
½ teaspoon dried dill weed, rosemary, or other herbs (or 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh herbs)
Butter
Coarse salt

To scalded milk, add sugar, butter, and salt, stirring until dissolved. Cool to lukewarm. In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast in warm water; sprinkle with a little sugar to help activate yeast. Allow yeast to develop for a few minutes. Add milk mixture, then flour. Add onions and herbs. Stir together until blended, about 2 minutes. Cover and let rise in a warm location until tripled in size, about 45 minutes. Stir down and beat vigorously for ½ minute.

Heat oven to 350º.

Turn into a sprayed or greased 8-inch or 9-inch cake pan. Bake about 1 hour. Remove bread from pan; rub top with butter, then sprinkle with coarse salt. Cool on rack.

French Bread

Make two loaves of fresh-from-the-oven French bread - one for your family and one for a friend.