Bread.

I have often said I could in fact live on bread alone. And butter. The taste, the texture, the comfort. I love eating it. I also LOVE baking it. Measuring the flour, releasing the active yeast, folding in the buttermilk, adding a pinch of salt & sugar. Tossing chunks of real butter in…I don’t create low fat bread y’all!

One of my favorite breads to make is sourdough. My sweet mama’s older sister Merium made the most fabulous sourdough bread. She would send me back to Lee University with a loaf. I would slice it up & toast it in my bootlegged toaster. I’m pretty certain we weren’t allowed to have a toaster in our door room back in the day. I was such a rebel.

Merium has been gone for many years now. She was such a wonderful cook, seamstress, you name it. I know my mom misses her. I know her daughter, granddaughter & husband miss her. And the family that has been born since her passing missed out on a wonderful woman.

I am thankful for her kindness in sending a loaf of bread back to school with her niece, who probably didn’t fully appreciate that kindness at the time. I do now!

A few years ago I started baking sourdough bread. I was gifted a starter from a sweet friend’s grandmother. A starter is kinda like a low maintenance pet, you have to feed it a couple times a week. Sometimes that doesn’t happen. I’m currently in the unfortunate circumstance of needing a new starter…or creating my own, which thankfully works just fine, it just takes a little time. My dad loves to eat a fancy grilled cheese on my bread on Sunday evenings. By fancy I mean not Kraft singles like I eat…mom fixes him up good with some spicy, real cheese! I know he’s out of bread now, and although I have a loaf in the freezer, they prefer the fresh baked. I promise Dad, I will get to work on a new starter as soon as I finish this post!

I also LOVE baking Bride’s Biscuits. I love eating them fresh out of the oven with a little bit of salty Kite’s country ham. So good!

There is something therapeutic about mixing & measuring, stirring, cutting in the butter & tossing the mixture. Oh & kneading the dough…that is fantastic for stress. Not much kneading is required for Bride’s biscuits, but I can get some major stress relief working with that sourdough dough!

My mom bought me the cutest little tool to make my biscuit making easier, a pastry blender. Who knew how much easier that would be than my 2 fork method? My dad may love my sourdough but my mom loves my biscuits. I made some the other day when she & my aunt Marie (Winkey) came up. We attempted to pick strawberries that morning, but we underestimated the power Mother’s day weekend had on our local strawberry patch! The twins & I eventually gave up & ate ice cream cones while the 2 sisters picked. We moseyed back to my house and mom took the littles outside while I got busy baking. Those precious minutes in the kitchen, alone with my biscuits was refreshment for my soul. Never mind the fact that I had to lock the doors to protect those minutes from my littles…I was on a time crunch people!

One day when I’m feeling all chill & creative I will bake biscuits with my girls. I made need some sort of pill to make that happen.

But this day was precious. We sat down and enjoyed my biscuits with the “Happy” ham mom brought us from Kite’s. My in-laws joined us. The littles sat in real chairs & acted right for the most part. My oldest nephew came in from working outside for my husband & joined us. From the outside I probably looked like the proverbial chicken with her head cut off, but as I looked around my dining room table, my heart whispered a soft prayer if thanksgiving. For the precious family I was looking at. My strong father in law who has battled his way back from a costly war with Multiple Myleoma & a stem cell transplant. My sweet and also VERY strong mother in law who has battled right along with him & still puts a smile on her face & laughs at her crazy granddaughters, all 6 of them! My sweet aunt, who is my second mother. Who brings me so much joy & laughter. I just love sitting in the pew beside her at church…they don’t let me sit in between her & Jim like I used to for some reason?

And my mama, where would I be without that woman? The looney bin most likely. I don’t have enough words or room in this post to adequately describe her. I’ll save that for another day.

And my Keegan. Our first little baby Jesus. Don’t get all sanctimonious, that’s just the nickname he was given…first born grand son who can do no wrong. Still fits.

And my little faith & grace girls. Love them to pieces. The joy they bring to our family is amazing. And the lessons they are teaching this old mama, well they are tough ones at times. But as the old song says “He’s still working on me, to make me what I ought to be!”

Bread. It can be life.

#bread

#herimaginaryblog

#kitescountryham

#bridesbiscuits

#family