Bread Making

By the time I was 12 I had been taught to make a batch of bread in the big mixing bowl. There was no recipe written. Under Mom's instructions I filled the bowl with flour until it filled to there, adding to it a small handful of salt. I then took a certain pan and heated water in it until it was warm. then I added the water a large handful of sugar and a package of yeast. This stood until the yeast started to bubble good then stirred the yeast mixture into the flour. I added enough water extra to make a soft pliable mound of sough. this dough was plastered with a handful of bacon grease or lard, covered with a clean dish towel and allowed to rise until doubled in bulk. I would then get to punch this down getting dough clear up to my elbows. After rubbing it with grease and allowing the dough time to rise double in bulk again I would punch it down getting all the air bubbles out. We had one large pan we mad a batch of dinner rolls in. I'd squeeze tiny dough balls, roll them in bacon  grease and repeat until there were about 24 rolls. then I would form about 6 loaves of bread. these would all rise nicely again then be baked in the wood burning stove when the oven temperature was just right. Later we got an electric range we would use during the hot summers.

After I learned to make bread Mom could leave town for a weekend and know we children would not starve. She felt it a Mother's duty to teach her daughter the art of bread making.