Physical and spiritual nourishment; just like the home
February 23, 2011
St. Charles County, MO
by Kris Kolk
Sandwiches don’t do it justice. Leavened, unleavened, baked, boiled or fried--bread is one of mankind’s most popular and oldest recipes.
The breaking of bread symbolizes friendship, trust and peace. It has been referred to as “the staff of life” indicating bread is much more significant to us than, say, beets.
Perhaps it’s the literal warmth produced during baking or it could be the triggering of warm memories. Why is bread so important? Let’s don’t overanalyze it.
The aroma of a freshly crafted loaf of bread evokes images of home, family and safety. We all want our families healthy and happy. Bread is up for the job.
If you don’t bake your own bread, consider it. Despite what you may have heard, it’s not difficult or terribly time consuming. A few tries may be necessary to adapt a recipe to work well with your own pans and oven. The time involved is mostly rising time—not hands-on.
A good bread recipe can be adapted in many ways: cinnamon bread, dinner rolls, cheese bread and hamburger buns. It could even be used as the base for pizza.
The staples needed to bake bread have long shelf lives, unlike the finished product. If you have the ingredients in the pantry, you’re good to go. Yeast, flour, sugar, salt and oil give you a head start for many recipes.
You’ll be able to stay far away from the grocery store madness and panicky people clearing the bread shelves immediately before another historic Missouri snowfall. Not only will you have tasty bread any time you like, you will be able to feel smug in your preparedness.
So, instead of flying down the grocery store aisle and routinely whipping that cold plastic-packaged rectangle into the shopping cart, enjoy the satisfaction of making, and serving, your own homemade bread.
Copyright 2011 Neighbors About Town
