Making Bread

There are few things that make me feel more like the woman I want to be than making bread.

Both my grandmothers made bread and I aspire to be more like them in almost every way. My grandma Norine's rolls were heavenly, and she made the sacramental bread for her church every week for decades. The members of her congregation were blessed indeed to be able to partake of her bread instead of store-bought bread.

I've only recently taken to baking. For many, many years, cooking was more my thing. Cooking doesn't require the same exactness as baking; it's more forgiving and easier for me to experiment. When I was pregnant, I started baking cookies and became addicted. I'd have lost my baby weight a lot faster if I hadn't started to bake. It's not just about eating the cookies; baking is a sort of therapy for me.

Bread is tough for me. I had tried a few times in the past but never produced anything edible. As I've watched more cooking shows and read various recipes, I've gotten better. I make pretty darn good rolls, although not as heavenly as my grandma's. My mom once told me she has Grandma's recipe for rolls...I really need to get that from her! I can also make a really fine artisanal loaf that is super easy and has only failed once; I misread the new measuring spoons and put in 1 1/2 tbs instead of 1 1/2 tsp. Seriously, who doesn't label their tablespoon with a T??? I caught the mistake and was able to remove a lot of the excess salt but not enough. It was still edible but just barely and only when dunked in a lot of soup.

Sandwich bread has been trickier. With every recipe I've tried, white and whole wheat alike, the resulting bread has been quite tasty but not really very good for sandwiches. Store bought bread has a soft texture that makes biting into a sandwich so satisfying. Have I eaten store bought bread so much that I've lost the appreciation for homemade sandwich bread? Or, have I just not found the right recipe? I'm really hoping it's the latter.

Do you have a good sandwich bread recipe that I can try?

Julie :)