Baking bread is good for the soul! But cake twangs your buds!

I'm making bread today. A dear friend asked about bread baking and recipes a few days ago, which prompted me to get out my late grandmother-in-law's recipe for Dilly Bread! I swear I can't look at that recipe without getting my dilly bread jones going. So the only cure for that particular jones is a nice hot butter-dripping-oozing-drenched slice of fresh dilly bread. Therefore...

I MUST make bread! <--that last sentence was said in the robotic voice of someone who's lost total control of their will, knowing their diet and health will be compromised if they make loaves of this dreadedrichfattening bread. Damned recipe makes 4 loaves! They're small loaves, but geez...we're not making lunch for thrashers here! I don't change the recipe, I just make it into 2 larger loaves. This is sort of like having your pizza cut into 6 pieces because you can't eat 8 pieces. Anyway, I have lost bread pans over the years to one art project or another and have only 2 left! Note to self: get more bread pans! I do love this stuff but not just because it's yummy but because it's rich in memories and love. Smelling this stuff rising with all it's yeasty, dilly, oniony fragrance reminds me of Grandma Florence more than anything else in my life. She was my best friend for the years I lived in my late husband's hometown in B.F. Iowa. She was sweet, sassy, knew how to raise kids, gardens, roses and bread! She was my heroine for those years. We moved there, my new husband and I, when I was a 19 year old newly wed and she was in her 80's. You haven't lived until you've had someone who's in their 80's for a best friend...try it...you'll love it! She was spry and had all her faculties. Smart as a whip for a lady who had been a farm wife for most of her many days as an adult and not much formal schooling. She was world-wise. I don't see a red rose without thinking of her honking big Blaze climber. She made her grandsons help her lay it down in preparation for those long cold north central Iowa winters and then stand it back up in the spring. And I don't smell dill without thinking of her. She grew it, she cooked, baked and pickled with it. They say smells are the best trigger of memories. I believe it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dilly Bread
Grandma Florence C.

2 c. cottage cheese
2 pkgs dry yeast
½ c luke warm water
4 T sugar
2 T instant onion flakes
4 t dill seed
2 t salt
½ t soda
2 unbeaten eggs
2 T shortening
5-6 c flour

Dissolve yeast in water. Add all ingredients. (about 3 c flour) then work in the rest of flour. Put in greased bowl cover let rise till doubled. Punch down and put in pans let rise. Bake for 35-40 min. in 350° oven or until browned nicely. Makes 4 small loaves. Brush loaves with oil.

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I used to knead this recipe and make it all by hand. Now, even tho I don't have a bread machine or anything of that fancy sort, my son does have a professional strength KitchenAid mixer with a bread hook. I use that and LOVE it! It sure saves my poor old CTS-hands! Punch down? Yeah, right....not when I have a KitchenAid mongo mixer sitting on my counter! That baby can knead the stiffest bread dough for 15-20 minutes without working up a sweat!

I'm going to make another great sounding recipe for cream cheese pound cake too, but talk about your decadent dainty dish!! Whoa, check out this recipe, I got it from another dear friend...then call the cardiac unit and tell them to be standing by! You may want to alert your local paramedics too!

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Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Deb N.

1 1/2 cps butter softened
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1 tablespoon vanilla

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears.

Combine flour and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Spoon batter into a greased and floured 10-inch Bundt pan.

Bake at 300 for 1 hour and 35 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pan, and cool completely on wire rack.

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I'm mainly doing this for Jon. Andy and I don't need this sort of thing, but if it will entice Jon to eat...then I'm going to make it. He said it sounded good. He's not eaten anything yet today and it's almost 4:30pm. He just wants to sleep. Maybe the smell of freshly baked bread or pound cake will light a fire under his appetite. Or maybe it will make him puke. I'm gambling on the appetite-fire!

Today is the day for sharing recipes. I've just shared one of my oldest and one of my newest ones with you. The bread is simple, easy and no worries. The pound cake sounds the same, but this will be my first attempt at it.

I'll share some photos as this comes about. So this page of my bjournal will be a long time in the making. But that's okay, you won't mind, will you?

First photo...

Dilly bread....BEFORE


DURING...



AFTER...




I think it worked! Jon said that after he takes a nausea pill, he wants a couple slices of this bread! Okay, having to take a nausea pill before eating my bread isn't the best compliment in the world, but him eating it the way he feels, is!!

Here's the photos of the cream cheese pound cake. This is the creamiest, thickest, most fluffy batter ever! I just know this is going to taste primo!!

BEFORE...



DURING...popping out of the rose bundt pan!




AFTER...(don't look too close, you'll see where I had a hard time getting it out of the pan...I forgot to flour the inside of the pan after greasing it! Duh!!)



Okay, now that you've been on a calorie-filled journey thru my bjournal...I'll let you alone. You're probably as full and in agony as I am. But at least I got Jon to eat two pieces of dilly bread and he's working on a piece of pound cake! Go Mom!!

Thought for the day:

The ratio of people to cake is too big.

Milton...Office Space