This is day 24 in a 31 day series on hospitality. Start from the beginning here.
I invited myself over to Tammy’s house (hospitality in reverse) to bake bread last week. Tammy is a dear friend, a fellow homeschooler, an amazing cook and homemaker and the poster child for hospitality. She is raising the most wonderful kids and opening her home constantly to others. She’s so bubbly and kind and accepting and is always so inspiring to hang out with. We had such a wonderful day together, baking every kind of bread and muffin possible, while the fall breezes blew through the kitchen. Ahhh, what memories! We take a trip every year to the Apple Farm and we decided it was time to make some new traditions together.
Side note:: Carver’s Apple Farm has the best apple fritters. How many did I eat, you ask? Well, that’s for me to know and you to find out. ( I used to hate when my brother said that.)
Back to bread making day. For years, I have a longed to have a wheat grinder. I know what you’re thinking. But if you could taste the bread that comes from freshly ground wheat you’d stop calling me Amish and go get us a grinder. I’m gonna own one at some point but for now I just keep inviting myself over to the homes of my wheat grinding friends. There are so many health benefits to this method of bread making. I’ll refer you to Bread Beckers site for all the nitty gritty but suffice it to say—42 vitamins and minerals and LOTS of fiber, not to mention the amazing texture and taste. You need this bread in your life.
Tammy bought all her equipment and products from Bread Beckers. They have a store in Atlanta and you can order online or visit your nearest homeschooling convention, where they usually teach their bread making workshops.
She uses hard red wheat and has been making bread this way for 15 years, still using the same grinder. It’s a WhisperMill but don’t let the name fool you. There is nothing ‘whisper’ about this process. It’s loud and messy and so much FUN! We used hard red wheat for this bread.
Here’s the recipe she uses (from the Bread Beckers cookbook) minus the lecithin and gluten.
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I don’t exaggerate when I say that this is THE most wonderful textured dough I’ve ever had my hands in. And suffice it to say that Ms. Tammy is a little more ‘precise’ than me. She weighs her dough out so that all the loaves come out the same. I covet her OCD ways but my family will have to make due with varying sizes of bread.
She uses the oven method for letting the bread rise but she doesn’t do the second step of letting it rise once in the pan. She cooks it right away and it turns out great. Has someone been pulling the wool over our eyes all the years? No need for a 2nd rising? She swears by it.
And that’s it.
Bake and eat.
Now, you’re Amish too.
The recipe she uses makes 5 loaves. And two fishes.
Just kidding.
It’s a lot of bread but it freezes well and then there’s plenty for sharing. She grinds enough wheat to make bread, muffins and peanut butter bars and I have to say that EVERYTHING I tasted that was made from this week was to die for. SO incredibly tasty and so good for you. Drink lots of water. (great article by Sue Becker about our desperate need for more water). It’s loaded with fiber!
And I have to share some pics from around Tammy’s house. It’s one of those homes that welcomes you right in. You can tell she loves for her family well here.
Her husband makes these adorable kids’ kitchens. I want one. And another small child to go with it!
And have you ever seen anything so wonderful as this impeccably organized and beautiful pantry????
Banana nut muffins without the nuts. Delicious!
The turquoise chair that I tried to steal.
I hope you enjoyed meeting Tammy. I wish you could meet her in person, you’d love her and learn from her, like I do.
She sells Willow House and has an online store if you’d like to browse and shop. I love my Willow House products!
Thank you, Tammy, for a wonderful day and for loving and feeding your family and friends so well!