I think last Friday I failed to mention that every Friday I would be posting one of Jessica’s recipes. I asked her to send one today, and she wrote a whole blog post! So without further ado, may I introduce my very very very special guest writer, Jessica The Magnificent:

Here is the promised recipe entry. I will say that it is a challenge
to feed nine people every day something that is nutritious, interesting,
and affordable. Luckily, most of them are not too picky. We do eat a
lot of bread, so I’m including two bread recipes today. For most of my
married life I was a self-proclaimed “bread dud.” It seemed like any
recipe I tried mixed up well, went into the loaf pans, and never rose.
Most I baked anyway and they turned out to be aromatic bricks. I still
can’t make wheat bread to save my life; that is Doug’s department. But
since finding two recipes for white bread that work for me, now I can
make cinnamon rolls, french bread, rolls….I don’t think it was
finding a magic recipe that made the difference so much as learning
the tricks of making bread–use very warm water with the yeast (but
not hot or it will kill the yeast), put sugar in with the yeast and
water to help it proof (get bubbly and fluffy), let the loaves sit in
the pans for 5-10 minutes after baking before trying to get them out
of the pans (or they will stick and break apart and it is not pretty).
So with that, here is the first recipe.

Homemade French bread with garlic and butter, toasting in the oven

French Bread

2 pkg. yeast (4 1/2 tsp)
1/2 cup warm water
1 Tbsp sugar

2 cups hot water
5 Tbsp shortening
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp salt
6 cups flour (+ some to get to right consistency)

Add yeast and 1 Tbsp sugar to warm water. Set aside and let proof
while mixing other ingred. In a medium-sized mixing bowl microwave 2
cups water till steaming hot. Add shortening and whisk carefully until
melted. In large mixing bowl (or Kitchenaid or Bosch) mix flour, 2
Tbsp sugar and salt. Pour in water and shortening and mix until it
starts to clump. Then add yeast mixture (use a rubber scraper to get
it all out of the bowl). Let it mix, or knead it, adding more flour if
necessary, until it is a soft, but not sticky, dough. Place in greased
bowl, cover with dish towel, and let rise 10-15 min. Punch down, cover
and let rise 10-15 minutes more. Grease a cookie sheet (jelly-roll
pan). Divide dough in half. Shape each part into a long loaf (french
bread-shaped) and place long-ways on pan. Slash 3 times diagonally on
top of each loaf. Cover with towel. Let rise about 30 minutes, or
until loaves are fluffy and touch each other. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35
minutes. Let cool on pan 10 minutes, then move to cooling racks or
serve.

This is good slathered with garlic-butter and broiled for a few
minutes to eat with spaghetti, lasagna, soup, etc. It also makes for a
pretty good PBJ when it is fresh, or a grilled ham and cheese when
it’s not.