Bake your own bread

I learned from my mother in The Meadow, how to bake homemade bread. It was of necessity. My father, the only wage-earner was recently deceased. There were fifteen mouths to feed.

How to produce the maximum amount of wholesome food from the minimum ingredients was of the essence.

Luckily my mother was reared ‘in the country’ where such skills were acquired as second nature! She passed them on to her older children, for she wasn’t able to do everything in the home alone.

Occasionally now still, one of my own who has fled the nest will call on the telephone to be reminded how to produce homemade wheaten/soda/treacle/fruit bread. To pass on the recipe/ingredients is easy. It’s the skill of being able to turn these into a delicious, nourishing loaf that must be acquired.

If you are interested and can purchase buttermilk where you live, the following are the ingredients and the methods.

WHEATEN: Into a large mixing bowl, measure 12 oz plain flour, 4 oz of Medium Wholemeal, one teaspoon of baking soda, salt and sugar. Mix them with one half pint of buttermilk. Do not over-knead the dough! With the outside dusted with flour so you can handle it, turn the dough into an appropriate baking dish. Use you wooden spoon to make a cross on the cake. Bake it in the oven for ~45-50 minutes at 175

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