“I KNOW HOW TO BOIL WATER; I JUST DON'T KNOW WHEN IT'S DONE": November 2013

Monday, November 11, 2013

English Muffin Bread

5 cups flour
2 packages Active Dry Yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 cups milk
1/2 cup water
cornmeal

Prepare two 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pans by greasing well and sprinkling with cornmeal. Set aside.

Combine 2 cups flour, yeast, sugar, salt and soda.
Heat milk and water until warm (no warmer than 120°F).
Add to dry mixture; beat well.
Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a stiff batter (5 cups total).
Spoon batter into prepared pans and sprinkle the tops with Cornmeal.
Cover with tea-towel and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.
Bake in a preheated 400° oven for 25 minutes.
Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks completely.

Enjoy! Élvez! Piacere! Gustirati! Radosť!

Natural Resource

Beginnings

It was tradition in my family that soup was served almost every Sunday. There were only a handful of Sundays where soup wasn't part of the menu. On those days, we probably took a trip to Rivesville, West Virginia to visit with my Grandma, who usually had her own pot of soup on, and homemade bread to sink our teeth into. Sundays started with Mass, and after returning home, we would have breakfast. One of my favorite morning dishes was palachintas (yum). Mom would already have soup on the stovetop, and between noon and 2 o'clock it was time for the "soup feast." You could tell time at our house by the Sunday meal plan. A lot of them were based on the time of the football game, or other sporting event. Soup was always served as the noon time meal, followed by a hearty meatloaf, roast beef, stuffed cabbage, chicken paprikas, or the like, at suppertime (usually around 4 o’clock). It seemed like all we did on Sunday was eat and relax. You would wonder how you could be hungry for supper at 4 or 5 o’clock. Amazingly, you were. There were times I would remember that if there wasn’t enough roast beef to make you content, Mom would give you a slice of bread on your plate and cover it with gravy (Gravy Bread). What an added feast we thought we were getting. Little did we know, there probably wasn't enough meat for seconds, and who cared, because there was always plenty of gravy for that "oh so special" Gravy Bread. I really don’t remember a lot of desserts. I know we probably had them from time to time, but even if there were, I don’t know how one would find, or want to find, the room to fit it in. Well, all this talk is making me hungry. Go turn on the water and let’s get started!

Dedication

I dedicate this website to the 4 best cooks I know: My mother, who nourished me from the day of my first breath, both physically and spiritually; my mother-in-law, introducing me to her family favorites and customs; my husband’s grandmother, who had a unique, physical and verbal way of teaching me all her different techniques, to pass on traditional dishes; and last, and foremost, my heavenly mother, Mary, who is always by my side guiding me with spiritual intervention every step, and ingredient, of the way. It is with a deep love of my heritage that I also dedicate this collection of recipes to all the cooks who are just starting out and continuing the tradition of using recipes that are "family recipes." I hope that this website will serve to preserve some of my "family recipes" and to kindle an interest in traditional cooking among the younger families in a not always traditional way.

Enjoy!
With much love, Beve