Homemade Bread

Growing up with 10 kids in my family, you can imagine the amount of food we went through. My mom wasn't one to go out and buy premade food. It all had to be from scratch. This included the bread. As each of the 7 girls turned 7 years old, we were put on the chore chart. You can only imagine with no dishwasher, the overwhelming piles of dishes, laundry, more dishes and more laundry. To a 7 yr. old, it all seemed so daunting and sometimes, it was just plain hard to tear ourselves away from playing to attend to the chores. One of the chores was making bread. I'm telling you, at 7, we could make a mean loaf of bread, make that 5 of them. Everyday. We ate 5 loaves of bread, everyday. We would even make it to sell, sometimes. There was nothing like the smell of bread baking in the oven. Even better was pulling it out and fighting over who got the first, steaming hot, end piece with melted butter.
Well, it's been years since I've attempted my hand at making bread. I have a 2 or 3 sisters that make bread, and I love it when I'm at their house when it comes out of the oven. But, I just wasn't interested in making it myself. In fact, a couple of years ago, even the thought of mixing, kneading, and shaping loaves just seemed so daunting when I couldn't even clean my house. Seasons have changed and I find myself wanting to try new things. When my sister suggested I should start making bread, my first thought was it's been so long and I don't even remember how to make it. What if it doesn't turn out like it used to when I was little. I slowly started to get excited about it, though. Next I had to convince my husband that I needed a mixer. Come on honey. Just think of the smell of bread baking in the oven. Imagine yourself sinking your teeth into a steaming hot piece of bread right out of the oven. You'll never want storebought bread again. Eventually it worked, but with some reluctance. He didn't believe me. The day I bought my mixer, he was just waiting to be impressed. With the help of my sister, we pulled the first 5 loaves out of the oven. It was like riding a bike. You never forget. I'm pretty sure Cory was impressed. My boys are in love. If we run out of bread, the boys are begging me to make some more. If I'm not fast enough, Cory threatens to take my mixer back. Heck no! Who wants storebought bread when you can get it fresh out of the oven!


Thanks mom, for teaching us to make bread.