The Cook In Me Still Lives......

Eventhough most of my meals jump from boxes to the table with very little help mind or body wise from me, the cook in me still lives. When I was old enough to pull a chair to the stove, meal making was my responsibility.  I was given a Betty Crocker first edition cookbook and told to go for it.  "Betty" told me there was no such thing as simple incomplete meals...meat, potatoes, bread, vegetable, glass of tea or milk and dessert....Always a dessert! I would get off the school bus and be sure I started the meal to be on the table promptly at 5:30.  We would eat then I would do the dishes.  This went on every night except Sunday when we went to my grandmothers on the other end of the block.  I still have that cook book along with many more that would have ended up in someone's trash can had I not saved them from an untimely death. Neighbors, grandmothers and friends always brought me THEIR favorite cookbooks when downsizing.They all knew, all too well, that they were in good hands for awhile because a cook book I cannot distroy. Out of three children and five grandchildren I have maybe two children and two grandkids that think they like to cook BUT not the old "I think I'll spend the day in the kitchen" recipies. My brother sent me a cookbook from San Francisco in the sixties on bread making which has so much dough on the pages they look antiqued. It makes twelve loaves of dough at a time.  Can you vision what size bowl I had to start out with and did it by hand once a week.  I was a true "hippy" My second husbands mother was a great cook I heard, though I never met her. When we went to her house on her passing, at the back door was a trashcan full of books.  Now throwing any kind of book away is a scrilage to me...especially cookbooks and poetry. I paid my respects and slipped out quitely and filled my trunk to the brim.  That could have been one of the contributing factors to my second and final divorce....Another whole story to say the least .It is now some thirty years later and I have those books and use them with the old computer cards, we keypunchers use to use for bookmarks.  Those bookmarks are the very best recipes......I never move those bookmarks in the belief they were put there for life and if you move them that recipe will fail.   Silly. huh?

Earlier in the week I wrote about Anna. She has a fullproof recipe for baked bread that makes two loaves

ANNA'S BREAD

one package dry yeast

1/4 cup lukewarm water

Let stand 5 min's in a bowl.  In a large mixing bowl put:

2 Tablespoons sugar (I prefer brown)

2 teaspoons salt (I prefer sea salt)

2 tablespoons shortening  (You know I would go for butter)

2 cups scalded milk (Here I use 2%)

Let mixture cool until luke warm add yeast misture stir gradually

6 cups or more flour

Mix well till you make a stiff dough and turn out on board floured and knead until smooth and satiny. shape into ball and turn into a greased bowl with bread greased all ove and cove to rise.  Double in bulk should come in two hours.  Punch down and turn out on board and cut in half for two loaves or one loaf and rolls for the little ones...Great recipe    Bake in a hot oven (400) for 50-60-min  crusty bread

When I was snowed in two weeks ago mom and I just ate bread and soup all day.  How fattening is that?  Nothing you would want to tell Dr. Oz. But those two loaves made two old snowed in crazy ladies very happy...love Pokie