Monday, September 28, 2009

baking with daughters

My youngest daughter visited with me on Sunday afternoon and suggested that she and her sister would make homemade bread with me on Monday. ( I don't work on Mondays.)
Since we are all excellant bakers we decided to make different loaves of bread.
Monday morning was beautiful, cool with a gentle southern breeze blowing outside. We took time out to watch the flowers bouncing with busy bees and butterflies before going in to bake.
They arrived with bread flour in hand and ingredients.
The first loaf was made by my oldest daughter Jenny. She made her grandmother's soft dinner rolls. (My mother taught her when she was a new bride!) It was very touching to see her kneading the dough that I had watched my mother make throughout my childhood. Her simple actions brought tears of joy to my eyes as I watched her mix and knead. When she offered me a small piece of dough, I was transported back to my girlhood days. (My mother had always given me a little bit of dough before it went to the pantry to rise!)
I thought, "How like my mother my girl's are. How like my grandmother they are. We are all generations of women who bake great bread, and love spending time together doing it." My youngest, Michelle, who bakes bread for a living, declined to make her bread today. She wrote down her recipes for us while we formed our rolls and loaves.
While we waited for the bread to rise we made a small amount of pesto. The basil is almost spent and they wanted a last little bite. (little it is, the basil is not producing enough to make more than a cup.)
I made my favorite flax seed bread which rose very high and made a beautiful golden crust.
The house was filled with the smell of bread and honey!
At the end of our day together we divided up the bread and rolls. My dear darlings took bread home to their loved ones, to husbands, boyfriends and children. ( They remembered to leave some for their father!)
It was a wonderful tender day for all of us. We talked about the early cookie -making days of their childhood, when I was the only teacher. Today I learned some great bread-making techniques from them! It is the first time we have baked together in years! (and the first time all three of us have baked at the same time !)
We've decided that we need to bake again next month.
Our vote was to make pumpkin cake and black and white cookies.
It was a good day.

2 comments:

Gabrielle said...

Thanks for a really touching post!!
Gabrielle (Herbfriend)

sunflowerherbfarm said...

my thanks for the comment. I try to keep up with your blog and pics. I have learned more from you and louisiana plants than all my lessons to date. that i give great thanks for.