Homemade Bread Day

(Google Image) 

By Chef Diane

One of my father's favorite sayings is, "It's the best thing since sliced bread!"  Before bread was sold sliced, it was purchased in solid loaves.  So...I decided during my younger homemaker period, that I would make fresh bread in loaves.  In the 90's a big fad was the "friendship" bread, or sourdough bread, or potato bread.  It starts with a liquid "starter" it has to ferment, and then you add to it, and put it in a jar and share it with others.  Hence the name - Friendship bread.  Well, this recipe takes 3 days to bake and it makes 3 loaves, but it is absolutely delicious.  Since you had to "feed" the starter every week, I would bake the bread every week.  The first loaf that came out of the oven was consumed immediately.  If you have ever had the opportunity to smell bread baking, then you will understand why the first loaf disappeared immediately.  The other two loaves were either shared or frozen for meals during the rest of the week. I continued baking the bread every week for a few months, until our clothes stopped fitting, then I stopped baking.  Apparently this bread made such an impression on my son, that when he was away at college, he asked for the recipe, and made it at school for his dorm friends.

(Google Image) 

These days they have a bread machine, I have never tried one, but seems like that is cheating in a way.  But there are all kinds of different breads to bake, that don't require all the kneading and rising.  One bread that I bake alot is banana nut bread.  To me that is more like a cake, but many slice it, toast it, and eat it for breakfast as well as a dessert.  Another bread is cornbread, and it is readily found in many restaurants here in the south.  My father is a member of an organization called the Rotary Club.  They hold meetings each week where they have lunch before it starts.  The chef of the restaurant where the meeting is held is from the north, and is not familiar with the southern rules of cornbread with greens, so, frequently my father comes home and complains that there was no cornbread on the buffet.

A friend of mine recently went to a home party where they sold food spices, mixes and dips.  One of the popular items was a beer bread mix.    I had never heard about this, but it made sense to me, since beer is made with yeast, that it would be good for using in a bread recipe too.  i figured if there was a mix for this bread, that maybe I could find a recipe as well, so I Googled it, and found this simple recipe on recipe.com:

BEER BREAD

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (sifted)

3 teaspoons baking powder (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)

1 teaspoon salt (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)

1/4 cup sugar

1 (12 ounce) can beer

1/2 cup melted butter (1/4 cup will do just fine)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients and beer.

Pour into a greased loaf pan.

Pour melted butter over mixture.

Bake 1 hour, remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes.

(Google Image) 

Today is Homemade Bread Day.  It's your chance to get into the kitchen and bake something delicious and nutritious for you and your family or friends.  Below is a simple recipe for you to try since it is Fall, and there are plenty of sweet potatoes available.  This recipe comes from a friend of mine who bakes many loaves during this time of year to share with friends and neighbors.  So give this recipe a try, or bake up one of your favorite breads, and celebrate homemade bread day.

SWEET POTATO BREAD

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups sugar
• 3 cups self rising flour
• 2 cups cooked mashed sweet potatoes
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp coconut extract
• 1 cup shredded coconut (optional)

Directions:

• Mix all ingredients and bake in loaf pans at 350 for one hour.

Sweet Potato Awareness Month

(Google Image) 

Chef Diane

My mother loves sweet potatoes.  When I was growing up she used to tell me that she take two hot sweet potatoes to to school every day, one in each pocket, to keep her hands warm on her long uphill walks to school each morning in the snow, then eat the potatoes at lunch. I should have realized that growing up in the south, on the beach, there were no hills or snow to hinder her daily walks, however it wasn’t until recently that my aunt, her sister, told me that she never had to walk up hill in the snow with sweet potatoes in her pockets to keep her hands warm.  But she does however love sweet potatoes.

Every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas she cooks them, puts them in a dish and tops them with marshmallows and bakes them until they are golden brown.  All she adds to the potatoes are butter, and the rest of the family is not as fond of that, but my mother isnt concerned, that means more for her.  I love them with pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon, they are delicious that way, and no leftovers.

(Google Image) 

Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of vitamins and beta carotene and antioxidants. They are also a good source of fiber as well.  Actually, the sweet potato is not a potato at all, but a root. I have noticed more use of the sweet potato, especially in the form of fries at local restaurants.  At thanksgiving when my father fries the annual turkey, he also uses the mandarin I gave him and slices up sweet potatoes and fries them as chips.  They are just like Lay's potato chips, only better!  I also have friends who will bake a sweet potato pie instead of pumpkin pie for their thanksgiving dessert.

November is Sweet Potato Awareness Month; this is a perfect time to celebrate with many different delicious dishes.  They are not only good, but good for you.  So this November, bake, fry, or make a pie out of some sweet potatoes.  Below is a recipe for sweet potato pie from southernfood.com to get you started in the month long awareness of this root.

Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients:

4 ounces butter, softened

2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes

2 cups granulated sugar

1 small can (5 ounces, about 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons) evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 prepared pie shells, unbaked

Preparation:

Mix butter, potatoes, sugar and evaporated milk until well blended.

Add vanilla, eggs, and cinnamon; mix well. Pour into the prepared pie shells.

Bake in a 350° oven for about 1 hour, until set.

Makes 2 pies.