Thanksgiving Bake

I baked three loaves for a Thanksgiving day dinner at my sister-in-law's house in Omaha, Nebraska.It was a case of I'd either be the smart son-in-law or the brother-in-law from Hell depending on how they turned out. I baked my rye Wednesday with the Bauernbrot recipe that Salome posted recently and despite my shortcomings on shaping the loaf, it came out very tasty. It didn't hurt that my mother-in-law got one of the first samples.

The sourdough sandwich loaf that I thought would be the most popular turned out to be the least noticed, I suspect that was because it wasn't the most visually interesting and people do eat with their eyes first. My grandmother's Polish egg bread with raisins turned out well, not like my memories of it from my childhood, but I got compliments for its soft crumb and the sweet flavor. The egg bread was a straight dough in an effort to come as close to the method that Babci used when she baked for her large family. I admit, I don't have the resource of a wood burning stove that she used well into her 50s. I retarded both of these loaves overnight so my wife and I could smell the cooling loaves on the three hour drive north to Omaha. I enjoyed the ride but I suspect my wife felt like I was tormenting her.

Despite coming down with a nasty cold during the day, I've survived and expect to be volunteered to do the baking next year.