I would like to dedicate this post to my Grandmother, who is celebrating her 90th birthday today! She has been blessed with amazing health, a gentle spirit, and a hard-working attitude. Here's a picture taken today of my mom, Grandmother and me at Grandmother's birthday lunch.
My Grandmother has always encouraged me as I tried to learn how to cook, bake, and really make anything my creative heart desired. I have learned so many valuable lessons over the years from my grandparents, and I am so thankful that I have had grown up with them in my life.
With that being said, I must also mention that my grandmother is an amazing cook and baker. She is famous in our family for her homemade angel food cake with fluffy white icing, chess pies, and homemade bread. I absolutely love her green pepper relish, and I can't wait until the fall when she is going to show me exactly how she makes it with the green tomatoes and green peppers from our garden.
I would like to share a recipe that will forever remind me of my sweet Grandmother, her homemade bread. This bread is sortof a cross between sandwich bread and homemade rolls. I've never tasted anything store- bought that compares to Grandmother's homemade bread. We always have it on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and Grandmother tells me that the baked loaves will keep in the freezer for several months. It is delicious warmed up in aluminum foil, then sliced and slathered with butter.
Grandmother's Homemade Bread
1 pkg yeast1/2 cup warm water
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsps salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup vegetable oil (or 1 stick margarine and 1/4 cup vegetable oil)
1 beaten egg
7-8 cups bread flour
In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast with warm water and stir to dissolve. Add sugar, oil, and egg to yeast mixture. Combine baking powder, soda, and salt with the buttermilk in a medium bowl. Stir to combine. Next, alternately add the flour and buttermilk mixture to the sugar/egg/oil mixture. Add enough flour to make the dough stiff.
Put dough in a greased bowl and cover with saran wrap. Let dough rise over night at room temperature or 6-8 hours. Kneed dough well and shape into four loaves. Place dough in greased loaf pans and let rise until doubled in bulk, covered with damp towels.
Bake bread at 375 for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 and continue to bake for another 20 minutes. Cool loaves for 15 minutes, then remove bread from pans and allow to cool on waxed paper.
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