Hot Soup and Homemade Bread

 We don't get the newspaper here any more (too full of ads!), and I've cut way back on magazine consumption.  About all I watch on TV is the news, so aside from fiction reading I love taking in blogs for recreation and information.  Who knew how much I'd learn, and what inspiration I'd glean from such a variety of blogs I read from around the world?

Blogs are a great source of recipes, and some of the best ones are from blogs that aren't necessarily focused on cooking... creative people just tend to be good cooks, I think it almost goes hand in hand.  (Case in point, my friends Marti and Dianne).

Anna Maria Horner has a fantastic blog in which she shares her art, fabric inspiration, and family stories (she's the mother of 5 or 6 kids).  I found a wonderful, hearty soup recipe here last week, and it went perfectly with the bread I already had rising at that time.  Check out her recipe, and here's mine for the bread... enjoy!

Grandma's Oatmeal Bread

Dough:

      2 packages Hodgson Mill Active Dry Yeast

      1/2 cup warm water

      1 1/4 cups boiling water

      1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal (I used steel-cut, which I bought by accident)

      1/2 cup light molasses (I used local Kentucky sorghum- yum!)

      1/2 cup vegetable oil

      1 1/2 teaspoons salt

      6 to 6 1/2 cups unbleached flour

       2 eggs, beaten

       shortening to coat 1 large blow and two, 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pans

Add yeast to 1/2 cup warm water and let stand for 10 minutes.

Combine boiling water, oatmeal, molasses, vegetable oil, and salt.  Cool to lukewarm.  Stir in 2 cups unbleached flour and mix well (you may use a mixer).  To this, add 2 whole eggs and yeast mixture.  Mix well.  Add the remaining unbleached flour to make a soft dough.  Knead the dough until smooth, elastic, and satiny, 10 minutes by hand, or 4 minutes in an electric mixer or food processor fitted with dough hook.  Put dough in greased bowl, turning to coat thoroughly.  Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise in a warm, draft-free place for 1 and 1/2 hours.  Knead down and allow to rise a second time until doubled, about 1 hour.

Turn onto a lightly floured surface.  Divide into 2 equal portions and let rest for 10 minutes.  Grease two, 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pans.  Shape dough into loaves and put into pans, seam side down.  Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise in a warm, draft-free place until dough rises just above tops of pans.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Brush the loaves with a mixture of 1 tablespoon egg white and 1 tablespoon water, sprinkle wtih 1/4 cup oatmeal.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes until top is golden brown.  Remove immediately from pans and let cool on racks.