Friday, January 21, 2011

Bread 'n Butter

My sister married a man who bakes bread...I know, I understand the shock of this statement as we all think of our own darling husbands. Honestly, can you imagine the Mayor and the Chief abandoning a night of Call of Duty to bake some bread?! HA! My brother-in-law is not a chef, he works in a steel factory (a very manly job) but he does indeed enjoy cooking and bakes a fine loaf of bread!

He always makes his signature kind...Oatmeal Bread and he shares the recipe willingly, I even have a copy that he personally wrote out for me...what a guy. So, without further ado, I give to you "Barry's Oatmeal Bread". It is delicious, it is not hard at all, I have not messed it up either time I've made it and you will be glad you tried it. Plus, your house will smell super yummy and your family will be very impressed. Imagine the prestige...I feel like making bread puts me in the category with girls who "get up and run 5 miles, always remember to use their enviro-friendly shopping bags and rarely let their kids drink soda". Okay, so I have one out of four covered.

Barry's Oatmeal Bread

Combine in a large bowl...
1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons butter




Pour 2 cups of boiling water over these ingredients and stir to combine.
Now, you have to allow this batter to cool to lukewarm. So go do some laundry or make a cup of tea (cause you did just boil some water) and answer some e-mails. Go on, go get something done...

Dissolve 1 package of dry yeast in 1/2 cup warm water (what is warm water, anyway? I struggle with this step...is it warm enough? Is it too hot? I spend several minutes adjusting the tap trying to get it just right. I try to imagine bath water, warm to the inside of my wrist).
Add the yeast-water to your cooled batter and stir.

Stir in 5 cups of white flour. As dough becomes stiff enough to handle, turn onto a floured board and knead for 5-10 minutes, adding extra flour if dough is sticky. Place dough in a bowl greased with a bit of olive oil. Cover bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until dough doubles (about 45 minutes). I turn my oven on for like 10 seconds and then turn it off to create "a warm place". Okay, go fold that laundry.

Punch dough down. Divide into 2 loaves and roll out with a rolling pin to get out any bubbles. Roll dough up into a loaf and place in pan greased with butter. Let dough rise again for about 30 minutes.



Preheat oven to 350* and bake for 35-40 minutes. Inhale yummy smell of baking bread. Flip bread out of pans and brush tops with a little butter. ENJOY!



Really good with jam, apple butter or just butter...


Nel's smile for the week: Some very kind person left a note in the door of my car while I was at work Monday reminding me that my inspection was overdue, they had just gotten a ticket for theirs being overdue and must have noticed mine and decided to give me a heads up! I had totally forgotten, December is just such a crazy month. Thank you kind person for potentially saving me from an $85 ticket!
Nel's frown for the week: Yeah, I also needed new brakes so $288 later...my trusty mama van is getting old. The Mayor is starting to get the "new car bug"...

Lulu's smile for the week: There was a new girl in a couple of Lulu's classes this week, she is new to the school. Lulu reached out and talked to her and then she invited her to eat lunch with her and her friends. Lulu isn't sure this girl is exactly BFF material but I was so proud of her for trying to make this girl's first day easier!
Lulu's frown for week: Solo festival is tonight and right now her oboe is 1/2 hour away being repaired! Hopefully the nice man at the music store can work some magic and we will get it back before this evening! Otherwise she will be playing for the judges on a borrowed oboe which just adds to the nervousness of the event!



1 comment:

  1. Nel, way to go, my mouth is watering!! I wonder how good this would be with gluten free flour substituted..... mmmmm ~*S*~

    ReplyDelete

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