Eat Globally

This weekend one of my closest friends from high school is getting married.   And I won’t be there.  This is the first wedding for one of my close friends that I’ll be missing since the weddings of two of my best friends back in 2002 and 2003.  Back in the day I was more than a little sceptical of the need to expend scant money and time off to travel long distances for weddings. It seemed like a lot of time and money to spend to then only enjoy a few minutes worth of time interacting with the bride and groom.

I think Sara and Jon’s wedding in October 2004 changed my mind about weddings.

Sara has been one of my closest friends (and favorite people) since I met her in the fall of 1996 in the very small, and obscure, town of Farmington, Maine.  Somehow the fates conspired that fall to bring myself, Sara, and our two other dear friends Carri and Lyn together at the University of Maine at Farmington.  We were all there for different reasons and different lengths of time.  Much to my parents’ chagrin, I lasted only one semester before packing my bags and moving back to Boston.  However, down all of our very different life paths, we have managed to remain unbelievably close through the intervening years.

Lyn got married in August 2002 and I wasn’t there.  When Sara’s wedding rolled around all four of us were living in or around Boston and we all made the trip out to Midway, Utah for the wedding.  It remains one of my favorite, and happiest, memories.

Since Sara’s wedding I’ve made it a point to attend all of my close friends’ weddings.  This presented something of a challenge when 3 of my close friends got married in 2007 and I traveled to all of the weddings.  End of the day though, I always feel like the trip was worth the expense.

Given all of the above, it may not come as much of a surprise that I’m more than a little heartbroken to not be packing my bags for a quick trip to San Francisco this weekend to celebrate Anna’s big day.  This year, there was just no way to work out the travel.  I still wish, however, that I could be there.  Its hard to believe that I’ve known Anna for over 15 years and through that time she has been one of my dearest and closest friends, someone who always understands where I am coming from and always supports me and loves me.  And now, on the happiest day of her life, I won’t be there to support her in turn.

I don’t have a lot to offer in the way of a consolation prize for my absence.  But I do have a fantastic bread recipe that, for me at least, evokes all the warmth and love of home.  Anna, I wish you and Jorge the best as you build your new life together.  I can’t wait to see where life takes you.  I hope I get to ride along for some of the journey.  In the meantime, if you ever make this bread, I hope it will remind you that I love you and will always wish the best for you.

Best Ever Wheat Bread

This bread freezes beautifully, which is good because it makes 5 loaves of bread.  However, usually I cut the recipe in half and make 2 loaves.  I’ve made this recipe by hand on a number of occasions so it is definitely doable without any special equipment.  However, mixing and kneading the dough will be a serious workout.  If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook, the dough comes together very easily and in no time at all.

Last thing (I promise)… this dough was the reason for a very interesting experience I had at Walden Pond in the summer of 1996.  You never know what to expect when you devote a day to baking bread.  That’s all I’m going to say.

3 packages of yeast

2/3 c. vegetable oil

1 1/3 c. dried milk

4 c. warm water

2 T. salt

2/3 c. sugar

4 eggs

7 c. whole wheat flour

Mix all of the above ingredients together and blend for at least 5 minutes.

Add:

7 c. white flour

Knead until the dough is smooth.  By hand, this usually takes me about 20-30 minutes.  If I’m using a mixer I usually let it run for 5-10 minutes.  Place the dough in a large, oiled bowl, cover with a dishcloth that has been rinsed in warm water and then wrung out, place in a warmish place (about 70 degrees), and let raise until doubled (about 1 ½ – 2 hours).  Punch the dough down, knead briefly, and then divide into 5 portions.  Shape each portion into a loaf, place in a loaf pan, cover with the towel, place the pans in the warmish place, and let rise again for about 1 hour.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  You should be able to tell when the dough is done by knocking on the bottom of the pan with your knuckles.  If it sounds hollow, the bread is done.

If you aren’t sure how to shape bread loaves, I suggest doing a quick search on the internet.  Or post a comment and I can walk you through my process.  Its not complicated.  Frankly, I have a very laissez-faire attitude to the process because as long as the bread tastes good, I don’t much care what the loaf itself looks like.

My best friend from high school, Jessica, came to Salt Lake City for a visit at the beginning of February.  It was honestly so good to see her and to have a weekend where we could do some of the things we love to do with each other:

• cook
• eat
• talk
• take lots of pictures
• drive around

That list is a snapshot of some of the things we’ve enjoyed doing together since high school, except that back then we were cruising the streets of southern California in Jess’ awesome silver Ford Explorer hatchback and one of our favorite things to make when we would come home for lunch was Stovetop stuffing from the canister.

One of the things I was excited to show Jess when she came to town was something I had hanging in my quilt room.

I’ve had this since my freshman year of college.  I can’t remember what crappy moment in my life that year inspired Jess to send this to me, but I love it so much that I’ve been hauling it from place to place for the past 15 years.  I do know that my freshman year of college was filled with lots of really good times, but inevitably, I had my share of bad days as well.  On the bad days, it was usually Jess that I reached out to for comfort, understanding, or solace.  When I look back on that year now, I don’t really remember the rough moments.  The good memories seem to crowd them out.  But what I love the most about the “poster” Jess sent, is that she included one of our favorite mantras from high school: If it isn’t funny now, just remember, in two weeks this will be hilarious.

Towards the end of our senior year, there was a period of time where everything seemed to be going wrong.  At some point we began telling each other, “In two weeks this will be hilarious.”  It seemed like the perfect way to deal with those experiences that while not amusing in the moment, become a source of humor once a little time and distance has passed.

I’ve been reminded of that phrase many times since the start of the year.  This year got off to a decidedly bad start.  There was a period of time where I just didn’t know how to respond to or deal with the difficulties life kept putting in my path.  During many of these moments, I felt like the only appropriate response was to remind myself that in 2 weeks (or maybe more like 2 months or even 2 years) I’d be laughing about everything that seemed to be going wrong in my life at this time.

In honor of Jess’ visit, and her overwhelmingly positive effect on my life, I wanted to share one of my favorite recipes that Jess kindly shared with me.  My favorite time of year to make this bread, per Jess’ suggestion, is for St. Patrick’s Day.  It goes extremely well with your corned beef and cabbage, and surprisingly enough (at least to me) this was a total hit with my very picky nephews and niece, so I feel confident in saying that it’s likely to be a hit with your family as well.

Dilly Bread

1 package active dry yeast (2 ¼ t.)
¼ – 1/3 c. lukewarm water (I like the water level to be right between ¼ c. and 1/3 c.)
½ t. sugar

1 c. large curd creamed cottage cheese, warmed (you don’t want the cottage cheese to be too hot or it will kill the yeast, so just warm it for 1 min or so in the microwave)
1 egg, beaten
1 T. butter, melted
2 t. dill seed
1 T. minced dry onion flakes

2 ½ c. sifted flour
¼ t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 T. sugar (I usually use just slightly less than 2 T. sugar because I like to account for the ½ t. I used with the yeast)

Combine yeast with warm water and sugar in a small pitcher.  Let sit for 10 minutes.

Mix second group of ingredients together in a large bowl using an electric mixer.  Mix the third group of ingredients together in another bowl.  Add the yeast mixture to the cottage cheese mixture.  Add the flour mixture slowly to the cottage cheese mixture.  Blend well.  A stiff batter should form.  Pour the batter onto a floured work surface and knead briefly.  Place dough in a large, greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Set in a warm place to raise until doubled, roughly one hour.

Punch down the dough, remove from the bowl, knead briefly, and form dough into a ball.  Grease a casserole or soufflé dish, and place dough in the dish.  Let the dough rise until doubled again, roughly 30 minutes to one hour.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven, cover loosely with foil and bake another 15-25 minutes.  The bread is done when the loaf sounds hollow when tapped and has a brown crust.  Remove from oven and remove immediately from the baking dish.  Brush top of loaf with butter and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Cool on rack for 20 minutes.