Happy New Year!




It's the blue moon from last night oooooooh!

And here is the recipe for the white bread...


White Bread

for 2-5X9 inch loaves

1 cup milk
1 cup water
1 tbsp. vegetable shortening
1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. salt
1/4 cup water at 105-115 degrees F
1 package of dry yeast
6 1/2 cups of sifted all-purpose flour

plus your choice of filling if you wish to do so, i'm using blueberry preserves for this one.


Scald the cup of milk in a heavy saucepan. With the heat still on, add the water, shortening, butter, sugar and salt and let it all melt together. Cool mixture till lukewarm.

In separate bowl, combine 1/4 cup of water (at 105-115 degrees) and the dry yeast. Mix it together by swishing the bowl around, don't use a spoon or whisk. Let it sit for 3-5 minutes.


Add the lukewarm mixture to the dissolved yeast.



Stir in 3 cups of the sifted flour, keep adding flour until you are able to put the dough on a bread board (large cutting board) without it sticking. Keep flour down on the board to prevent sticking while kneading. Then knead, knead good man or woman, knead to your hearts desire! Until the dough is smooth and elastic.



Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a cloth to let it rise till doubled in size, at least an hour.




Punch down the dough after it's risen and do it again! (if there's time, if not, no worries, just skip the second bowl rising and...)

Divide the dough into 2 balls, I mean loaves. Place them both in greased bowls, cover, and let the dough rise again till almost doubled in size.

Now is a good time to grease the bread pans that the loaves will be baked in.

Once they have risen for the last time, take one ball, I mean loaf, at a time and put it back on the bread board with some flour. Take a rolling pin and roll that baby out! It can be kind of tough because the bread dough is springy and elastic-y and wants to come back together when you try to spread it out. But hang in there, keep going, persevere, and all will be well and flat and spread out soon. Once it is, drizzle a little melted butter, or brush it on to the dough leaving about an inch around the perimeter without the butter. Then spread some of the blueberry preserves or jam over the buttered part. And, if you are compelled to do so, you can sprinkle some cinnamon over the blueberry also, mmmmm.

Then, start to roll it up back into a loaf (no more ball shape), kind of the way you roll a burrito. Seal the edges together while you go so none of the blueberry comes out the sides.

When it's all sealed up, it'll be in a loaf shape, and ready to stick into the greased up bread pans to be followed by oven time...


Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Shape the loaves for the bread pans and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes longer. If the loaf has shrunk from the sides of the pan, she's done.


Dig in!

It's New Years Eve, this is my first blogging!

...Wake up. 9:30. Let the cat in, as her vocal talents exceed my own first thing in the morning.

Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day! Southern California can be annoyingly perfect weather but some days that's just what you want. Yesterday was rain, today we move on from the rain.

...Joe leaves for work, I get up. Splash my face with water, the morning business. Make coffee! Sometimes I'll make Zhena's tea in the coconut chai form, to wake myself up a bit. I should not be having coffee, as it gives me the shakes a bit. Today, however, it is the french press, with the real deal.

Today is New Years Eve, and the start of my primarily baking blog. I hadn't thought of it before now, but to start something on the last day of the year doesn't usually happen. What good would come from me waiting one more day? When it is time, it is time. And right now, it is time to push down the french press...

Today, I shall be baking some bread. It is a plain loaf of white bread. Well, two plain loaves in fact (since that is what the recipe says). From the joy of Cooking, an essential kitchen reference. Starting simple with what I've done before, as to not disappoint myself on this glorious first day of blogging. This idea originated (to me) from my mother back on Long Island when I was probably 8 years old or so. What she did, and I now do, with this magnificent bread... is get it all ready in the dough form, then roll it our like a thick pizza dough. Then you make pizza on it, yes that's right, make pizza as what turns out to be INSIDE the bread. Insert picture here... No no, nevermind, it's up on the top of the page (ha!). So that's the pizza bread. Today, however I am going to make a sweeter version rather than this savory masterpiece (I say masterpiece not because I believe I am that good, but because this bread is that friggin good, Thanks Mom!). Today, I will roll out the bread dough and spread some blueberry preserves over as if it were tomato sauce. Well, maybe not that much of it, but i'll take pictures and show you. Ok... here we go! I'll be back later with more.