This will be my last blog for the year! Its gone so quick! So here is the final recipe i promised, grandmas quick and easy bread.

when i reflected on the process of making this blog and recreating grandmas recipes, i realised it has been quite a journey for me. It has bought to the front all of my memories of grandma in the kitchen and all the thing she used to bake for us when we visited as kids. It also reminded my family of her and i was very suprised to see how excited my father was tobe eating grandmas bread again " because no one makes bread like grandma" =)

Have a good holidays everyone

Grandma's Simple One Hour Bread.

Makes 2 loaves 

5 1/4 cups white flour
2 – 4 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 Tbsp.yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp. oil
2 cups hot water

1. Mix dry ingredients.  Add oil and water.  Mix for 1 minute and then check the consistency of the dough.  The dough should be very sticky.  If it is too dry, add more water.

2. Mix for 5 minutes.  (Do not add any more flour after the dough has finished mixing.)

3. Spray kneading surface with cooking spray and turn dough out onto surface.  Knead dough briefly until it has a smooth even consistency (this will only take several turns of the dough to accomplish).

4. Divide dough into 2 pieces (or more if you wish to have smaller loaves) and shape loaves into desired shapes and place on greased baking sheets.  Cover with a large dish towel and let rise for 25 minutes.
5. While loaves are rising, preheat oven to160 degrees  When loaves are ready to go into the oven, use a sharp knife (you can lightly spray your knife with cooking spray to prevent dragging) to make several slashes in the top.   Bake loaves for 25 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

Slice and eat warm with homemade butter and relish. A treat at anytime!

Butter

 Homemade Butter. As i have talked about a few breads now. I thought i'd make a block of butter to have with grandmas quick and easy bread, which i will put in another post. Now because i was too lazy to take photos while making the butter, i have borrowed the pictures from

\Cross, J. (2012). How to make homemade butter. Retrieved from http://www.thehungrymouse.com/2010/03/22/homemade-butter.

Grandma always made her own butter, in fact she refused to eat butter that wasn't homemade because and i quote " it just doesn't take the same Beth". While making butter is quite a process most of us would have done it at some time in our lives by simply over whipping cream. Grandma always had amazing butter and spent time every two weeks or so using the old butter churn to make her fortnightly block of butter. It was delicious. It really doesn't taste anything like bought butter and is really spreadable and creamy. It is a bit of a messy process though.

Grandma's Homemade Butter recipe - adapted by Beth who didn't have a butter churn.

Ingredients. -to make one block of butter.

• 6 cups of heavy cream - left to sour for at least 24 hours  (Grandma always got it fresh from the neighbors diary farm, but for the purpose of this experiement heavy cream from the supermarket will do)
• Salt to taste - i used 1 teaspoon salt.

 Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl and start to beat.






You need to beat this untill it is whipped and had peaks and then.....



Whip it some more! Keep going until the cream starts to separate and you get butter and whey (or butter milk)







This is what it should look like.





Now for the fun part. drain the liquid from the butter with a eive and keep (you can use this buttermilk to make scones and muffins) then start to knead the butter to make sure all of the liquid is out of it..



Then roll butter into a tight ball and leave to set in the fridge. This butter lasts for up to two weeks and is amazing on everything.  heres a hint.... it dosen't last lng in the fridge. especially if your made bread to go with it. Chill out and enjoy ! Theres nothing that tastes as good as homemade bread and butter!

helo folks,

sorry its taken me so long to upload these posts! have been a bit busy with class and exams! =)  Today i am going to talk about how to make Grandma's 'Shearers savory bread'. It was always a big occasion whenever we were shearing on the farm. As my fathers wife, mum was expected to feed the 10 shearers for the 3 or 4 days they were shearing our farms sheep. It was an experience to be remembered and repeated several times a year. My memories of that time are of Great Grandma, Nana and Mum running around like headless chook's trying to get everything done on time! One memory i will always have was when i was 8, i think, and Grandmas morning tea bread for the shearer's didn't quite make it to the shed. 

Grandma was known by her bread in our district and it was something that was looked forward to by the shearers who came to our farm. She always served it with homemade butter, and still warm from the oven. Anyway on this day, Grandma had made her bread and left it too rise on the bench, while the oven was eating up. Unfortunately when she came back from her cup of  tea, and put the bread in the oven, she didn't check the oven and didn't realise that Nana had turned the oven up so she could start the roast for lunch. The first thing we noticed, was the smell and beginnings of black smoke coming out of the oven 20 minutes later. The smoke alarm went off and everyone ran to the kitchen to see what had happened. Unfortunately for the bread it was beyond saving at that point and had to be given to the chook's. The shearers had to make do with piklets that day and Grandma was never allowed to forget the one time she didn't check the oven before making the bread. Anyway here is Great Grandma's recipe for savory bread, i hope you have more luck with it than she did that time.

Grandma's Savory 'Shearers' Bread.

 

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 1/4 cups grated cheese
• 1 1/4 cups small-dice cooked ham  or bacon
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped.
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for coating the pan

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 160 degrees and arrange a rack in the middle. Generously coat a metal 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with butter; set aside.
2. Whisk the flour, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl until aerated and any large lumps are broken up. Add the cheese, ham, and spring onions and toss in the flour mixture until the pieces are separated and evenly coated; set aside.
3. Place the eggs, milk, yeast and melted butter in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Add this egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until the flour is just incorporated, being careful not to overmix (a few streaks of flour are OK; the batter will be very thick).
4. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan, pushing it into the corners and smoothing the top. Leave bread to rise for 45 minutes. Bake until the bread is golden brown all over and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean about 40 to 45 minutes. Or if using a coal range bake at moderate heat for 1 hour.
5. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the perimeter of the bread and turn it out onto the rack. Let it cool for at least 15 minutes more before slicing.

ENJOY and remember to check the oven temperature before you cook. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It really bought bake memories of home and family when i baked this over the holidays. I ended up having to bake two loaves because dad felt left out when he shearers got some and he didn't.  I was really surprised by how popular the bread was and how some of the shearers could remember grandma baking it 15 years ago.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Hi All

 Sorry its been so long since my last post! Unfortunately I've been computer-less for the last seven weeks while HP have fixed it!  So I'll be playing catch up with my posts for the next few weeks!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread,

I remember Grandma baking this bread, it was a family favorite! Its fantastic toasted with butter and every now and then she'd add a handlful or two of sultanas or choco chips!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Ingredients:

BREAD:

1 Tablespoon butter

1/2 cup milk

2 Tablespoons granulated white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 envelope active dry yeast

3/4 cup warm water

3 cups all-purpose flour, divided + more for surface work

FILLING:

2 Tablespoons butter, softened

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a microwavable up, heat butter and warm milk in short bursts; stir together until butter is melted.

2. In a large bowl, stir sugar, salt and cinnamon. Pour warm butter/milk mixture into the bowl; stir.

3. In a glass measuring cup or small bowl, mix yeast and warm water until yeast is dissolved; pour into the bowl and stir.

4. Mix in 2 1/2 cups flour. Turn out dough onto a floured board (dough will be sticky). Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of flour onto the dough and knead until the dough is soft and smooth (4 to 5 minutes). Add additional sprinkles of flour, if needed.

5. Put dough into a greased bowl; turn the dough over so the top of the dough is greased too. Cover with a clean dish towel and let rise in a warm place for about 60 minutes, or until doubled in size (see tips below...)

6. Punch down the dough in the bowl with your fist. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 1 minute.

7. Roll dough out into a basic rectangular shape. Use a butter knife or your clean fingers to spread 2 Tablespoons softened butter on the surface of the rolled out dough. In a small bowl, mix white sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle this mixture on top of the butter.

 

8. Roll up dough and form into a loaf. Place into a buttered 5x9-inch bread pan, seam side down. Cover with a clean dish towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

9. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcuis

10. Score risen dough in the pan by cutting 3 slashes diagonally across the top of the loaf with a sharp knife. Bake bread for 35 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Fully baked bread should sound hollow when tapped.

fantastic when used to make french toast!


The smell of this bread cooking is amazing and it almost had my flatmates drooling while it was baking! "is it ready yet?" was heard for about 2 hours, it truely is amazing though and i have to admit that it was all gone by that afternoon  by the time we had all had our taste testers and snuck back  to have some more as a treats! It didn't turn out quite like grandmas but it was still pretty amazing!

Go on get your aprons on and give it a go! its dead easy!

Over and out  =)

The First Attempt.

On Sunday i attempted to recreate what i was told was the easiest bread EVER! Hmm turns out its quite a bit harder than what it seems. The recipe is as followed,

 Mums Plain White Loaf.

Melted butter/ or oil or lard for greasing and brushing

500g (3 1/3 cups) plain flour

2 tsp dried yeast

1 tsp salt

375mls (1 1/2 cups) lukewarm water

Extra water, for brushing


Instructions 

1. Light Coal Range and build up fire to moderate heat.
2. Place the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl and mix well to combine. Make a well in the centre and add the water to the dry ingredients.Ensure that the water is lukewarm.
3. Combine and then bring the dough together in the bowl.
4. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead.
5. Roll into a ball and coat in oil/ butter/ lard. Cover and leave in a warm place for 1 hour or unitl doubled in size.
6. Once the dough has doubled in size, reknead the dough and shape. Place loaf in loaf pan.
7. 
   Allow to rise in warm draught free area for a further 30 - 40  minutes or until doubled in size.
8. Check coal range temperature. Place pan on tray in range and leave for approx 30 minutes, it is cooked when its hollow sounding when tapped on the base.
9. The bread will last 2-3 days without going stale and can be used for toast or cooking after 3 days.
   
   
   
   
   So.... i incounted a wee incident when baking the first loaf, the coal range hadn't been used in a while and the range tray boke in half and took the bread with it, resulting in a black laof that the pet chooks seemed to really enjoy! The second loaf turned out better and as the say the proof was in the eating. My father and his farm worker managed to put away 1/2 a loaf between them and feedback to me that the bread was good but would be better with cheese, herbs and ham. 
   
   
   So overall, a fun if slightly rushed and burnt start to my experiment!