Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Homemade Friendship Bread

I love summer because it gives me a chance to feel domestic; our house stays cleaner (well, less messy) and I get a chance to work on my cooking/baking skills.

Have I mentioned that Brian makes the majority of our meals?? It's not that I can't cook, it's just that I am one of those people who need to follow a recipe. Who has time to look up recipes and then make a shopping list so that all items are purchased for it?? Brian is one of those people who can look in our pantry and "throw" something together that tastes fabulous. I am SURE my creation would end up in the trash and we would order out.

Anyways, here is something even I can make:



Homemade bread sounds labor intensive and somewhat intimidating, but it really isn't and I promise it tastes a MILLION times better than store bought for a fraction of the price. Even better, it is great to share with friends because each batch makes three loaves of bread!

Since I knew I would be giving some bread to friends I went ahead and used my picniking skills to make a recipe card to attach to the bread along with a jar of starter so they can make their own too (this would make such a great hostess gift to bring to a party in lieu of wine and such). You should be able to click this image and save it as a jpg, then you can upload to any photo place. I printed 50 copies of 4x6 (true fit: 4 x 5.3) from Walgreens for like $6.





A friend gave me a loaf of bread and starter a few years back. We had loved it and made it quite a few times. I lost the recipe card, but remembered it was called "friendship bread" and used instant mashed potato flakes. After searching the internet I found the recipe here. It is a little wordy, and in my opinion slightly confusing, which is why I re-wrote parts for the recipe card.

The only thing the recipe card is missing is the starter, which you only make the very first time. I bought mason jars to store the starter in, just be sure to punch a hole in the top of the lid or it will explode from the yeast! (My mom learned this the hard way driving home with a sealed starter. It exploded while she was driving making her think a gun had gone off and leaving her car smelling like beer...)




Starter Directions-
(again, you only make this the very first time or to give as a gift)

•1 cup warm water
•1/2 cup sugar
•1 package (2-1/4 teaspoons) dry yeast
•3 level Tablespoons instant mashed potato flakes

1) Combine ingredients
2) Let ferment on counter for 2 days
3) Start step 1 from recipe card



The only mistake I could see you making in the recipe is to buy the wrong type of flour, so I've included a picture:Here are the results:

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you so very much I havn't had this stuff in years so good to finally be able to make it again

Anonymous said...

Do you take out a cup every 3-5 days and them feed it and use the one cup to make a new loaf and repeat again in 3-5 days sorry I'm a little confused.
Thanks for this recipe.
Valerie, Salem Va

Unknown said...

No, you feed the ENTIRE JAR OF LIQUID.

Unknown said...

No, you feed the ENTIRE JAR OF LIQUID.

Unknown said...

What brand of potato flakes do you use? Can't wait to make this. I grew up eating this "Mema Bread," and we have been searching for a recipe since she passed away. I am hopeful this is it!