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.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 at 1:16 pm and is filed under Bread, Friends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.