Homemade Bread

So this past weekend my sister Brynn and her soon to be husband Ethan came down to visit. I had called her Friday morning to see when I could expect them to be here and what there plans were. She said that they would be here around eight and that Ethan wanted to go shoot guns with Wayne and that they were going to teach Wayne and I how to make bread. My first thought was...well I know how to make bread, but whatever. In the nearly four years we have lived down here this would only be the second time Brynn has been to our house, so I was kind of excited to have them come.

On Saturday they went sight seeing and then we all went to St. George for dinner. Sunday I totally forgot that it was Stake Conference and we all ended up being ready an hour early. So as we waited for the time to past Ethan and Brynn decide to start the bread making process. Ethan pulled out a hand grinder and attached it to the table and put in a scoop of hard white wheat into it and started turning the handle. At that point I realized that we were literally making bread from scratch. Starting with grinding our own wheat! Wayne and Ethan ground through two cups before stake conference started (with a little help from the kids). After stake conference they ground through I think 2 more cups of wheat while Brynn and I went over to the Hill's house so she could order a few things from Amanda. When we returned Wayne and Ethan had everything ready for Brynn and I to start making the bread.

Brynn was giving me step by step instructions on what I should be doing and what it should look like with Ethan watching close behind us. It worked out that I would be making two loaves and Brynn would be making two loaves. I would have to say that kneading the dough was not my favorite part only because my eye was itching like crazy and for 10 min couldn't do anything about it.

After letting it rise and watching it double in size Brynn showed me how to prepare the dough to get it ready to bake. I can honestly say that I had no idea the process in making bread was so detailed. After letting it rise one more time we finally put them in the oven set the timer and continued to wait. It only took 20 minutes and they where done. My whole house smelled amazing. I decided to give Wayne the first slice and his face was the reassurance I needed. It usually takes me a couple of times to get any new recipe down, so it was nice to see and hear the many complements that followed that first bite.

Between Brynn, Ethan, Wayne and I we nearly downed two on the four loaves our selves. It was sooo good that our next investment will be a wheat grinder and some wheat. I don't know if I will ever buy store bought bread again. Plus now I know that if it came down to it I would be able to feed my family with out the convinces of today. Thanks to Brynn and Ethan for sharing their recipe and teaching us something new.