What a wonderful post and a fabulous idea to take your subjects from the letters of the alphabet!
I also got into bread baking in the ‘70s via the Tassajara Bread Book. I’m sure I must have started with the basic bread recipe and then made all the sweet breads, quick breads and so on. My early copy must have disintegrated long ago and I got another in the ‘90s. I guess it might be time to order the latest edition--and to make another loaf of bread! Thanks for the memories.
Thanks Ruth! I'm having a wonderful time thinking about the progression and what pops up with each letter is a meditation for me of sorts when I walk. Now, I'm thinking about all the C's.
So many of us had Tassajara it feels like we are a breadmaking family.
OMG, there are so many! Cantaloupe, celery, chicken, chocolate, carrots, cabbage, coffee, cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese, cake, cheesecake, cream, calories, coconut, cardamom, candy--endless, right? What a fun meditation that would make...
Bread... the blood in my body (MORE B's!) I can't live without bread. I eat, sleep and "B"reathe... bread.
I bought myself a very nice enamel dutch oven that's been waiting for me to christen it with a loaf of bread.
I just made a wonderful King Cake, which is "bread", not cake. I made mine like a gigantic cinnamon roll. It was fabulous! I posted a photo in "Bake and Tell".
I wish I knew what I did with my copys of both of the Tassajara cookbooks. I've had them since the 70's but seem to be "buried" (BAD "B"!) now.
I was just looking at a recipe for fry bread. Yummm.....
B is for bubble bread! This is a favorite homemade bread at our house and the process brings so much joy. Funny enough, after story hour today my son and I stopped by one of our favorite local places to pick up our go to flour for bread making.
I have a trusty red cookbook binder my mom gifted to me when I got married and I continue to compile the recipes I make on repeat in this mighty little book. I took a look to see if there were any notes on where the bubble bread recipe first came from and my mom’s note says Taste of Home, so I did an internet search and this matches the recipe I use https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/buttery-bubble-bread/
I have also done a cinnamon sugar variation.
Happy baking Kate! I love this newsletter. I grew up cooking with my mom, grandma, nana, aunts and cousins and so much of what you write takes me to special moments with them. We moved back home several years ago and cooking with family is still a staple of our daily life. We even have a family group text to handle our week night cooking dilemmas.
I think I tried something like this once, Jacqueline, but I had no idea it was called bubble bread! Cooking and sharing the table with family and friends is simply the best!
I remember the beautiful pb&j sandwiches Barbara W brought to grade school so she learned from her Mom. The same copy of Tassajara sits on my shelf. Sourdough bread has become an almost weekly adventure here and my grandson arrives always asking for G-Ju bread. Lots of love in a loaf.
The smell of freshly baked bread is one of the best most warm and nostalgic smells in the world! It’s actually my goal to remind people of that smell. Which reminds me- I need to bake some bread!
This is a good prompt for me to pickup and start using my copy of the Tassajara Bread Book- I got it at a used bookstore a few months ago, and it's well loved by whoever it's previous owner was and looks much like your's!
B is for "Book Club," and I treasure mine. We are 24 years old and going strong! Always present are deep discussions, laughter, good food and wine. Gift after gift! ❤️
One of my favorite things to do when on the phone with customer service and they ask if there is anything else that they can do for me today is to say ‘Yes! There is. Please, smile at the next person you see.’ A smile is such a small thing and it can make all the difference in another’s day. 😊
My copy of the Tassajara Bread Book is very much a twin to yours, well-worn with stains and dog eared pages, it’s the book I used to learn bread baking in the early 70s while living in the country and leading the hippie life with my young family. I might have listened to Joni Mitchell too, except we didn’t have any electronics to play music on at that time. Then I baked all the bread we consumed week after week. Now I bake for pleasure, kneading as meditation.
I love baking for friends also, though now in our 70s we are told to watch those carbs and stay away more and more from refined sugar. This has translated for me into baking scones often, as they are less sweet than desserts and I can practice subbing in more whole grains without anyone noticing. In fact, having friends over on the front porch this afternoon(48°F) for tea and scones, a practice started during pandemic times that we are loathe to give up. My B is for
Best Friends who are always game to be guinea pigs for my baking experiments!
Best friends on the porch enjoying freshly baked treats is one of the best B’s ever! I too have fond memories of my days of cabin living with a young family, Betsy. Sister hippies!
Bloom - what good yeast does when mixed with warm water and fed by sugar or honey. I love that smell!
I adore the smell of homemade bread, still warm from the oven. I try to make a few loaves a week. And it is very hard not to take that first heel slice and slather it in butter while still warm!!
Baking bread is one of the most rewarding processes - both culinarily and spiritually! I aim to bake a loaf a week, sometimes more or less, depending on what else I’m baking. But is there really anything better than bread from the oven?
I think not, Jessica. Bread is right up there. In fact when asked once what would my last meal be my reply was a perfect peach--ripe, sweet, and juicy--and a slice of freshly baked still warm bread with butter.
loved this, Kate!
Thank you, Andrew!
Pie-Bys! This is classic (and half a “B” word). You’re a gem, Kate.
Been doing them for years, Amie And wow, it IS half a B...maybe that makes it B-flat!
What a wonderful post and a fabulous idea to take your subjects from the letters of the alphabet!
I also got into bread baking in the ‘70s via the Tassajara Bread Book. I’m sure I must have started with the basic bread recipe and then made all the sweet breads, quick breads and so on. My early copy must have disintegrated long ago and I got another in the ‘90s. I guess it might be time to order the latest edition--and to make another loaf of bread! Thanks for the memories.
Thanks Ruth! I'm having a wonderful time thinking about the progression and what pops up with each letter is a meditation for me of sorts when I walk. Now, I'm thinking about all the C's.
So many of us had Tassajara it feels like we are a breadmaking family.
Yes, I loved that book--and now I'm thinking of what to make from it, and wondering what you'll pick to write about for C!😊
I’m always open to suggestions!
OMG, there are so many! Cantaloupe, celery, chicken, chocolate, carrots, cabbage, coffee, cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese, cake, cheesecake, cream, calories, coconut, cardamom, candy--endless, right? What a fun meditation that would make...
Bread... the blood in my body (MORE B's!) I can't live without bread. I eat, sleep and "B"reathe... bread.
I bought myself a very nice enamel dutch oven that's been waiting for me to christen it with a loaf of bread.
I just made a wonderful King Cake, which is "bread", not cake. I made mine like a gigantic cinnamon roll. It was fabulous! I posted a photo in "Bake and Tell".
I wish I knew what I did with my copys of both of the Tassajara cookbooks. I've had them since the 70's but seem to be "buried" (BAD "B"!) now.
I was just looking at a recipe for fry bread. Yummm.....
Mel, thank you for sharing these thoughts! Bread is life! I hope you unearth your Tassajaras, too.
B is for bubble bread! This is a favorite homemade bread at our house and the process brings so much joy. Funny enough, after story hour today my son and I stopped by one of our favorite local places to pick up our go to flour for bread making.
I made a Garlic Bubble bread for Christmas! It was wonderful!!
Oh I so want to know what bubble bread is, Jacqueline!
I have a trusty red cookbook binder my mom gifted to me when I got married and I continue to compile the recipes I make on repeat in this mighty little book. I took a look to see if there were any notes on where the bubble bread recipe first came from and my mom’s note says Taste of Home, so I did an internet search and this matches the recipe I use https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/buttery-bubble-bread/
I have also done a cinnamon sugar variation.
Happy baking Kate! I love this newsletter. I grew up cooking with my mom, grandma, nana, aunts and cousins and so much of what you write takes me to special moments with them. We moved back home several years ago and cooking with family is still a staple of our daily life. We even have a family group text to handle our week night cooking dilemmas.
I think I tried something like this once, Jacqueline, but I had no idea it was called bubble bread! Cooking and sharing the table with family and friends is simply the best!
I remember the beautiful pb&j sandwiches Barbara W brought to grade school so she learned from her Mom. The same copy of Tassajara sits on my shelf. Sourdough bread has become an almost weekly adventure here and my grandson arrives always asking for G-Ju bread. Lots of love in a loaf.
Oh those were the days! You had Barbara’s bread a few years before I tasted it, Julie. And what a wonderful tradition to share with your grandson.
The smell of freshly baked bread is one of the best most warm and nostalgic smells in the world! It’s actually my goal to remind people of that smell. Which reminds me- I need to bake some bread!
Such a noble goal, Rachel! Bake on!
This is a good prompt for me to pickup and start using my copy of the Tassajara Bread Book- I got it at a used bookstore a few months ago, and it's well loved by whoever it's previous owner was and looks much like your's!
Amber it’s a great way to learn and welcome to the community of those of us who have the book. It’s great that you have one with “history”, too.
B is for "Book Club," and I treasure mine. We are 24 years old and going strong! Always present are deep discussions, laughter, good food and wine. Gift after gift! ❤️
Indeed, Pam! 24 years is amazing. Have you kept a list of all the books you have read and discussed? That would be something!
Curious. What little blessings have you experienced of late? 🙏
Wayne, for me today’s little blessing was spending the afternoon with a very dear friend, walking, talking, laughing, crying. How about you?
That sure sounds like a big blessing to me. A stranger smiled my way recently. That was a small one.
One of my favorite things to do when on the phone with customer service and they ask if there is anything else that they can do for me today is to say ‘Yes! There is. Please, smile at the next person you see.’ A smile is such a small thing and it can make all the difference in another’s day. 😊
If a customer service person is good, I tell them to tell their boss they deserve a raise!
My copy of the Tassajara Bread Book is very much a twin to yours, well-worn with stains and dog eared pages, it’s the book I used to learn bread baking in the early 70s while living in the country and leading the hippie life with my young family. I might have listened to Joni Mitchell too, except we didn’t have any electronics to play music on at that time. Then I baked all the bread we consumed week after week. Now I bake for pleasure, kneading as meditation.
I love baking for friends also, though now in our 70s we are told to watch those carbs and stay away more and more from refined sugar. This has translated for me into baking scones often, as they are less sweet than desserts and I can practice subbing in more whole grains without anyone noticing. In fact, having friends over on the front porch this afternoon(48°F) for tea and scones, a practice started during pandemic times that we are loathe to give up. My B is for
Best Friends who are always game to be guinea pigs for my baking experiments!
Best friends on the porch enjoying freshly baked treats is one of the best B’s ever! I too have fond memories of my days of cabin living with a young family, Betsy. Sister hippies!
Not a B word, but gratitude--thanks, Kate, for taking me back to the Tassajara bread book, a Beloved companion long forgotten and now restored.
You are so welcome, Nancy, and gratitude is one of the best G words!
Bloom - what good yeast does when mixed with warm water and fed by sugar or honey. I love that smell!
I adore the smell of homemade bread, still warm from the oven. I try to make a few loaves a week. And it is very hard not to take that first heel slice and slather it in butter while still warm!!
I think the world would be a better and perhaps kinder place if we all baked bread to share. Bloom is a wonderful word, Carolyn!
Baking bread is one of the most rewarding processes - both culinarily and spiritually! I aim to bake a loaf a week, sometimes more or less, depending on what else I’m baking. But is there really anything better than bread from the oven?
I think not, Jessica. Bread is right up there. In fact when asked once what would my last meal be my reply was a perfect peach--ripe, sweet, and juicy--and a slice of freshly baked still warm bread with butter.