A Gift of Anadama Bread

Maggie's Anadama bread.

When we got home from our trip around the Cabot Trail I had a message from a neighbor that she had baked Anadama bread and would be bringing us a loaf.  I had never heard of Anadama bread, but one of the nice things about the internet is that one can find out about almost anything,  I googled and found  this recipe  for the bread.  I'm not sure if this is the one that Maggie, our neighbor, uses.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 3 Tbsp butter (at room temperature)
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 package dry yeast
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour

Method

1 Place the cornmeal in a large bowl. Boil the two cups of water and pour the hot water into the cornmeal, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Let sit for 30 minutes.
2 Add the molasses, salt and butter and stir to combine. The cornmeal water should still be warm enough to melt the room temperature butter.
3 Put 1/2 cup of warm water (slightly warmer than body temperature) into a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let sit for a few minutes. Then stir it to gently combine. Let sit for another 5 minutes.
4 Add the yeast and the water to the bowl with the cornmeal and everything else, and mix to combine. Add the bread flour, a cup at a time, stirring after each addition. You will end up with something of a gloopy mess.
5 Butter a couple of 5x9 loaf pans. Spoon the dough mixture into the pans as best you can; it’ll be sticky. Cover with a tea towel and let rise for several hours, until it doubles in size.
6 Heat the oven to 350°F and bake the breads for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer or knife blade comes out clean. Let the loaves cool for a few minutes, then turn them out onto racks to continue cooling.
Yield: Makes 2 loaves

The bread is very tasty and we enjoyed it with butter and black currant preserves..  

A slice of Anadama bread with butter and black currant preserves.

Thanks very much Maggie. It's great having a neighbor who bakes.

Bread Run to the Cedar House Bakery

To us a "bread run" is a drive over to the Cedar House Bakery in Boularderie Center to replenish our supply of bread and other baked goods. It's about an hour and a half from here--over past Orangedale to the Transcanada Highway, past Baddeck, over Kelly's Mountain, over the Seal Island Bridge and there it is on the right.

The Cedar House Bakery.

Very cozy interior of Cedar House Bakery.

Before we lay in our supply of baked goods we have breakfast.  I usually have raisin toast, a fish cake and a piece of pie, (yes, a piece of pie for breakfast---really more like brunch) and this trip was no exception.

Their in house, home made fish cakes are famous.

Butterscotch pie.

On a full stomach, I can now choose the baked goods to take home. So much to choose from:
scones, tea biscuits, bread, cookies, pies, cakes, cinnamon rolls......

Lots of goodies from which to choose.

Cinnamon rolls.

Tea biscuits.

We always take home a strawberry/rhubarb pie.

Strawberry/rhubarb pie

A slice of "heaven".

And raisin bread for toast.

Raisin bread chock full of raisins.

Makes wonderful toast.

Lots of whole wheat bread which freezes beautifully.

One raisin loaf, eight whole wheat loaves (one for a neighbor).

We have enough baked goods for the next few weeks when we'll be having company, and then it'll be time to make another bread run to the Cedar House Bakery.

Eye Candy at the Halifax Farmer's Market

Strawberries and blueberries

Dan and I made it down to the Halifax Farmer's Market at Pier One very early on Saturday morning just after they opened and before it was  crowded.  And what a bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables and lots of other produce from local farmers---baked goods, honey, eggs, meat, fish.  And lots of lovely flowers.  I'll share some of the eye candy with you.

Radishes.

Flowers.

More flowers.

And more flowers.

How about a tall, cool glass of fresh lemonade or limeade?

Fresh lemonade and limeade.

Meats, bread, honey------

Meats.

Bread.

Honey.

The Market is open on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  I'll be going back when my friend, Mary, from Raleigh visits in a week or so.

The Market.

Inside the Market.

Because we were traveling, we weren't able to bring much home with us, but we did get a lovely bunch of carrots and several bunches of rhubarb.

Carrots

Rhubarb.

And some dog treats for Maggie.

Treats for Maggie.

Zucchini Nut Bread

Zucchini Nut Bread

I've had the Southern Hospitality Cookbook since 1976, and it is one of my favorite cookbooks.  The Cookbook Book Club this month will be discussing recipes from Southern Living Cookbooks, and each person will take one of the dishes that he/she has prepared to share with the group at the meeting tonight.  I'm sharing the Zucchini Nut Bread from this cookbook. Here's the recipe:

I first made this one summer in the late 70's when I had a lot of extra zucchini.  And I've made it frequently since.  It is a favorite at our house. For this one I used walnuts, but often I use pecans.  I use Canola oil.

Grated zucchini.

Dry ingredients sifted together.

Walnuts and raisins ready to add.

This is good plain or we like it with mascarpone cheese when it's warm just out of the oven.  It freezes well too.

Plain.

With mascarpone cheese.