My mother’s homemade bread is the best.  I am not kidding- everyone loves it.  She gives it away as presents for Christmas, birthdays, new babies, house warmings- it is perfect for every occasion.  She makes loaves and loaves of it at a time and then freezes them so that she always has bread to pull out if she needs it.  She could make it in her sleep.  The first time I tried to make it when I lived up in New York, I had her on the phone with me walking me through the steps.  I thought it was going pretty well, then she said, “Now just add some flour until it is not sticky.”  I am the kind of person who needs more specific directions than “some flour”.  My bread turned out okay but not great, and I definitely added too much flour.  I gave up- it was just much easier to have her make the bread and send it to me or make a bunch when she would come to visit.  Both my sister and sister-in-law have mastered the skill of my mother’s bread.  My sister, who just moved to Vietnam with her husband and two little girls, even can make it over there.  She did have to improvise since she did not have a rolling pin, but apparently a wine bottle works just as well.  I, on the other hand, have never tried to make her bread again, but I think it might be time.  Le Creuset has just come out with an on-line series called “Le Creuset Technique Series with Michael Ruhlman”, and the first one is about bread baking.  You can watch it here- it is fantastic http://lecreuset.com/ruhlman!  It has some wonderful ideas, and I can’t wait for the next story to come out- so inspiring.  Anyway- here is my mother’s bread recipe.  I will be trying it this weekend and actually measuring the flour I use so that if and when I get it right, I will know how much and then can add it to the recipe for future generations to not struggle like me.  At the end when the dough is made, you can put it in a loaf pan and bake it, but my mother breaks it into three balls which she then rolls out into a rope and braids the bread.  It is very pretty.  And while this has nothing to do with bread- here is a fun picture of Walker I took last weekend.

My Mother’s Bread

Ingredients:

1 package yeast

½ cup sugar

2 cups warm water

 3 tbsp oil

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 tbsp salt

¼ cup dry milk powder

unbleached all-purpose flour (see how there is no amount to this- I am going to find out and fill it in!!)

Directions:

Mix yeast, sugar  and water in a big pot or dutch oven. After yeast, sugar and water have reached bubbling stage, whisk in the oil, eggs, salt and milk powder.  Gradually beat in flour, a cup at a time, until you need a spoon to stir flour in.  Continue to add flour until you can work with the dough and your hands are not sticky.  Let rise until double.  Beat down and add more flour.

Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 min.