Making Bread: Part 1 (More Food Storage Recipes)

Home-Made Bread

There is nothing like eating a slice of fresh, hot, homemade bread. I love the way it makes my whole house smell like home. Moma never made homemade bread, but Miss Tontsie, our next door neighbor, did. I loved her fried dough made out of her yeast bread dough. Moma always made hot chocolate to dip the dough in. Sweet memories of home. Now I make bread for my family. I hope one day that the smell of bread baking will evoke loving memories of home for my children. I think I'll fry up a batch of dough for my kids this weekend.

One of my favorite bread dough recipes is not my own. It comes from www.everydayfoodstorage.net She has a great video that shows how simple the process actually is.

Here's her recipe:
1 1/4 c water
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/4 cup honey or 1/3 cup sugar
2 3/4 cup whole wheat ( don't use store bought whole wheat flour. If you can't get fresh ground, just use unbleached white.)
1/4 c. gluten
1 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. dry milk
1 Tbsp. butter, margarine, or oil
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1/4 cup potato flakes

Throw in bread machine. Set to dough setting. When it's run through, pull it out, and shape it. Place in bread pan. Let rise again for @30 min. Put in 350 oven for 35-40 minutes. When you tap the bread it should sound hollow. If it does, it's done.

This is my usual bread recipe:

1 cup cultured buttermilk
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/4 cup honey
1 3/4 cup white wheat flour
1 cup cooked quick oats, cooled
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup gluten
1/4 cup potato flakes
1 Tbsp. butter

Same procedure as above. I like to mix the ingredients in the bread machine, but bake in the oven for best results. Happy baking Lisa!

To make Miss Tontsies' Fried Doughs:

After the first rising pinch off golf ball size dough and stretch it out. Fry up in oil. Turn to get both side cooked. It goes great with coffee or cocoa. I'll add a picture on Sunday.

Buttermilk Sauce

Now that we can make buttermilk, we have a wide variety of new recipes open to us. When I discovered how to make cultured buttermilk, I wondered if it would make this sauce like "real buttermilk". I'm happy to report that yes it does.
The recipe is really simple and has many great uses. Originally this syrup was used on our Saturday morning pancakes, but once we tasted it, we thought it would be great on bread pudding and ice cream. Jessica thinks this tastes like Werthers Caramel. It tastes so good. Please try it.

Buttermilk Syrup

1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp. corn syrup
1 stick butter
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine the first 5 ingredients. Bring to a boil and boil for 7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Serve over pancakes and waffles.

Homemade Buttermilk

Homemade buttermilk is easy, cheap and so convenient to have on hand. Buttermilk can be used in making salad dressings, biscuits, breads, pancakes and buttermilk syrup. It can easily be made with powdered milk.

1 1/3 cup milk powder (if using cannery milk, it will be half this amount)
4 cups water
1/4 cup buttermilk ( you have to start out with storebought buttermilk, but can use homemade buttermilk for the next batch.)

Pour in a quart size jar. Gently stir to mix. Close jar and place in a dark cabinet for at least 7 hours. When it's thick, it's done and when it is done, just place in fridge. It's ready to use.