Bread, the staff of life - for the poor it is perhaps scraps, eaten in hungry haste. For the rich, croissants, made delicate and flaky with layer upon layer of butter and time. For all, bread is what we have in common.
When I bake I think of Leon, who was in a concentration camp, and every now and then, managed to escape to a nearby farm house where the woman would leave him a piece of bread on a table in the back room. That bread filled him with hope.
I think of my aunt, low on funds, making many a dinner of toast and scrambled eggs for her five hungry children, who thought it a banquet.
And I think of Grandma with her wrists cracking as she kneaded the dough. When the bread came from the oven she would bless it by dunking her hand into a glass of water and rubbing a cross onto the top of each loaf. When the last loaf was blessed she would drink the water - a ritual I understood without ever having to ask.
Making bread is a romantic experience, a story of creation. Individual ingredients lie dormant until they are brought to life by the process. The dough, filled with promise, has never failed me. Never have I not loved it's feel in my hands, - warm and responsive, taking part of me with it into the magic. Believe as I believe, and the experience will engage you in something quite mystical.
It is all of this that went into Breads by Barbara, a three-year enterprise that ended in great success. There was much too much work for me to do by myself when the girls grew up and out of the house, but now that you have my recipes perhaps you can pick up where I left off.
Cinnamon bread
THE LIQUID - Warm and wet, sweet and flavorful - the essence, the life blood. The milk is brought to the boiling point. Just as a skin forms on the surface it is ready. Add to this hot liquid the margarine, butter, then the sugar. When both have dissolved add the salt and flavorings.
THE YEAST - proofed in warm water bursts into buds of life and creates the magic. The bowl should be warm and large enough to hold all the ingredients, the water just this side of hot. The yeast is sprinkled on top of the water and then sugar (just enough to coat the water and coax the yeast) is sprinkled on top of the yeast to help it blossom. Yeast loves and feeds off of sugar.
THE SUBSTANCE - Flours, grains, fruits and nuts, herbs and seeds, giving each loaf its character. What will this loaf be like? Heavy and hearty, a rye filled with caraway seeds, maybe even molasses and coffee. Or light and white, a perfect host for something sweet and tasty like fruits, nuts, raisins, spice.
Modern methods have tried to combine all three categories into one procedure, but traditionalists like me will not be cheated out of the visual and emotional coming together of these separate entities.
1. ASSEMBLE all your ingredients into three categories
2. BEGIN YOUR WARM LIQUID in a pot on the stove. Boil the milk or liquid. Add the other ingredients in the Liquid Category and allow it to cool to very warm (you can comfortably keep your finger in it. Eggs are added to this mixture in one of two ways.
Let this warm liquid mixture sit on the stove while you prepare the yeast.
3. DISSOLVE YEAST IN WARM WATER. 
Warm
your bowl by running it under hot water. When warm, add the warm water
called for in the recipe. Sprinkle yeast over the surface of the water,
then sprinkle sugar on top of that (about 1 T of sugar (or honey) is
enough to feed the yeast. Let it sit for about 5 minutes until the
yeast is dissolved and blossoms into buds onto the surface of the
water. If the yeast and sugar have not sunk to the bottom of the water
they may need a little help from your spoon or a gentle shaking of the
bowl.
4. ADD WARM LIQUIDS FROM POT TO YEAST MIXTURE IN BOWL.
5. ADD DRY INGREDIENTS TO LIQUID MIXTURE IN THE BOWL. The dry ingredients should be added in small amounts and stirred until the dough is able to be dumped out on the table and worked "by hand." It is ready when you can no longer be patient with stirring!!!
6. KNEAD DOUGH. Flour the table (about 1 cup of flour), empty the bowl onto the flour and begin kneading. Kneading is the process of working flour and air into the dough until its
Add as much additional flour as needed to give the above results.
7. PREPARE FOR RISING. 
When dough is ready put it
8. GREASE THE PANS FOR BAKING while the dough is rising (about 1/2 to 1 hour depending on the dough, the temperature of the kitchen, the amount of kneading, your patience, the scheduled time for dinner!)
9. WHEN DOUGH HAS RISEN TO TWICE ITS SIZE, punch or poke down and gather into a ball. Do not knead again or dough will get hard and need to sit for about 1/2 hour to relax.
10. CUT DOUGH INTO PORTIONS, fashion into loaves and put in/on pans (filling a little less than half full). Bread can be made into a ball, loaf, braid, etc. and put on:
11. SLIT TOPS (OPTIONAL) AND/OR BRUSH LOAVES - before rising or when putting into the oven, or at both times - with egg and water/milk (1 whole egg and 2 T milk or water)
12. SPRINKLE WITH TOPPING. Immediately after brushing with egg, some seeds or grains (poppy seeds, sesame seeds, crushed millet, etc.) can be sprinkled on top of the bread. The egg acts like glue to hold the seeds in place. Flour (no egg) can be smoothed on top of a loaf with your hand for a wholesome look.
13. LET BREAD RISE IN PANS (bread will rise still more when baking so don't let dough get too high in pan. While rising, turn on oven to preheat.
14. PUT INTO A PREHEATED OVEN AND BAKE for no less than 25 minutes at 350° for average loaf. Dark, dense, heavy loaves (like ryes or breads with grains) take at least 45 minutes. When bread looks done on top take it out of pan and knock on the side or bottom of the loaf. It should sound hollow and feel light. If done, put on wire rack to cool.
If you had any problems or failures make note of it and correct it next time. Do not give up because something was not perfect. There is no bad loaf of bread - some may taste too dry, some to heavy, some a little raw or bland, but all can be rescued with a little pop into the toaster or the spreading on of jam. The next time you will be more comfortable with the process and the feel of the dough.
A collection of 31 recipes of the finest breads from around the world, taste tested by Barbara's many customers. Begin with Barmbrack; a hint of allspice blended with currants, golden raisins, and a few 'secret' ingredients, for a sweet and satisfying experience. Or try the Cornmeal Herb bread, a wonderful addition to the traditional turkey sandwich.
There are cultural breads also, from Greek Christopsomo, French Bread (& variarions) to Italian Pannetone, Irish Soda Bread, Russian Black, Ukrainian Rye and more. Enjoy your home baked breads with 12 recipes of spreads such as Pineapple Orange Butter, or Crab Spread.
Cinnamon bread