Thursday, April 2, 2020

Let's Bake

Rolling right along with  the A-Z Blog Challenge-

Day 2-B is for Baking 

Guess who supplied the word for today? Ha! If you know her you know it would have to be my baker daughter2. When I sent her the letter she replied instantly back with this word and asked if I'd given her B on purpose. 

Nope. I'm not that clever. 

Both of my girls love to cook and bake, but Daughter2 especially has a passion for baking. We've spent many happy hours together pouring over recipes, watching bakers on TV, scooping flour, and solving the world's problems plus a few of our own, as we wait for cookies to bake and cakes to rise.

Baking is good for all sorts of things.

I learned to bake standing on a chair beside my mama. She has always been a wonderful baker and I'm sure that's where I developed my love of baking and probably my sweet tooth too. My mom has what I call a 'knack' for baking and is famous for her Christmas cookies.

Famous at least in our circle of family and friends and all the people who've been recipients of one of her fabulous loaded cookie trays. I don't know if I have the skill she has, but I do bake with lots of love which I like to think is something else I learned from her. 

I have a small cookbook obsession, and church cookbooks are some of my most favorite. They're typically filled with comfort food, and while I wouldn't make a steady diet of the calorie laden-high carb goodness we think of when we hear that word, there are days and seasons that cry out for the foods we loved as children. I had flour and yeast in the pantry so decided yesterday to bake a family favorite-cinnamon bread. 

This particular recipe is found in one of those church cookbooks, shared there by a wonderful lady everyone adored, whose family attended church with ours when I was growing up. All us kids were friends (still are) and we spent a lot of time sharing meals at those infamous church pot luck suppers the 70's were famous for.  

Hey, wouldn't a pot luck supper with family and well-loved friends hit the spot right about now? Everybody brings a dish and we talk and laugh and say,' remember when...' Instead we're tucked safely inside our own homes all by our lonesomes which is where we need to be. 


I'm not a food blogger.


Did I need to tell you that? 


I think I do need to tell you there is something supremely satisfying about kneading bread dough. For anyone counting this is mixing bowl number three because I like to use as many dishes and utensils as I can when I cook. Hubs will vouch for me here.


Once kneaded the dough rests under a cloth, somewhere warm allowing it to double in size. 


 I heart South Carolina.


And dough that does as its told.
Now for the good stuff-


Brushed with melted butter, sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar, rolled up snug, then back to jellybean corner to rise some more.  


Please disregard my half eaten jar of jelly beans.
Desperate times people.


Baking is good for all sorts of things.
Math and science for the head and contentment for the heart.


When the world feels off kilter, a bowl and a spoon and a day spent baking make it seem a little less so. 

12 comments:

  1. Cinnamon rolls look lovely. My hubby always accuses me of using every pot and pan in the kitchen when I cook.

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  2. I miss baking! Ovens are not common household appliances in Asia. We didn't have one in China, and don't have one now in Vietnam. I miss it. I baked a lot. Cookies and scones, particularly. That cinnamon swirl bread looks delicious!

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  3. The best memories are baking with my grandmother as a child, then learning from my mom and then teaching my daughters the same recipes. In our family cookies = love.

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  4. Lovely day and the aroma must have been marvelous. Baking is dangerous. I am resisting the urge, though as you say, desperate times...

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  5. I love baking too, Joyce, especially in times like these, it seems the aroma of baked goods especially baked with cinnamon are so soothing, tells one everything will soon be alright.
    Your cinnamon rolls look delicious, Enjoy.
    Thank you for sharing.
    Sue

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  6. That looks so delicious. Would love a slice to go with my tea. My daughter made a cinnamon roll cake the other night and there is nothing quite like cinnamon and sugar anything ;)
    We bought a huge container of jelly beans from Costco on Saturday and it is almost empty. Something about jelly beans that makes you want to grab just a few every time you walk by, lol.

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  7. Now a church cookbook is something I can totally get behind! Those are the ones with REAL food in them! That bread looks amazing, I can almost smell it. And I probably gained 3 pounds doing just that. Ugh.

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  8. I have never been a baker but do appreciate the time and effort it takes to produce such a pretty and delicious masterpiece.

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  9. I won't even show that picture of your beautiful cinnamon bread to Joe or he would have me in the kitchen trying it! LOL It looks delicious!

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  10. Oh, that's such pretty bread. I love to bake and plan to bake cookies tomorrow and will likely share them with a few neighbors. Enjoyable read! Have a great isolated weekend!

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  11. mmm looks good! I don't do a lot of baking these days. I used to but then everyone grew up and moved away and hubby doesn't need any extra calories lol (Neither do I actually) I did think I might get the bread machine out and make some bread during this inforced lockdown, particularly if bread was in short supply. Fortunately bread is readily available because yeast is about as scarce as toilet paper!

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  12. Baking is a great diversion these days. I hear some people haven't been able to find yeast during these times. Your loaves look beautiful!

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