Freshly baked bread

There is something about baking your own bread and smelling its delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen that is just so life affirming. I feel so happy that after several attempts at making bread recently and failing due to not being able to read Norwegian as well as i thought (and leaving out the crucial ingredient, thinking that it was in the flour mix already) i finally have 2 loaves in the oven and they are already smelling heavenly AND rising! The key seemed to be when i brought out my grandmothers wonderful bread bowl which has been languishing at the back of the cupboard for some time, it was the missing piece (along with the yeast) because then it all just klicked into place. Kneeding the bread in that bowl brought back wonderful memories of her and her delicious bread, as she always made her own. Infact she made everything herself and was very very good at it.

She was endlessly creative making us clothes ( even well into our teens and they were beautiful), dolls, the interior for the dolls house that my grandfather made us and among other things always delicious food. She was also very bright and interesting and had an incredible memory, being able to recall historical dates and events from almost any era and she often retold wonderful Greek Myths and legends from memory. She was someone that was loved by everyone that met her, she had such a gentle angelic energy and was unfailingly generous with her time and her love. She sadly died in 1992 of Leukemia and she has been hugely missed ever since. I still feel the need to pick up the phone or to pop down to her cottage in Hampshire to chat to her while she worked out in the garden or while she baked. She was the perfect grandmother in every way.

We shall see if my bread turns out as well as hers once did, it has been a long time since i baked 'normal' bread with yeast. It's for my husband and son whose stomachs are fine with this kind of bread ( it is spelt bread as it is a little gentler than wheat and they both do better on it. I try to keep the grains i use on a regular rotation and i don't use too many with gluten), but i shall simply enjoy the heavenly smell and perhaps bake some things from Naomi Devlins recent post from her blog "Milk For The Morning Cake". She bakes such delicious gluten, dairy free and SCD friendly cakes, breads, muffins and much much more. It is a treat just to visit her blog as she writes so beautifully and creates such inspiring recipes.

I also made a quick Banana Bread from Lucy Burney's "Optimum Nutrition for Babies and Young Children" ready for my sons lunch box tomorrow. It is one that i can have and have therefore already been munching on, too eager to wait for it to cool. Raw treats are still the ultimate treating food for making me feel good afterwards but this is comfort food at its best.

Banana Bread 

Ingredients 

100g (4 oz) Self rasing wholemeal flour or gluten free flour 

1.5 teaspoons of mixed spice

50g (2 oz) butter or coconut oil

75g (3 oz) sun-dried raisins

225g (8 oz) banana i.e 2 large bananas

1 organic egg, beaten.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C /350degrees F/ Gas Mark 4

Mix the flour and spice in a bowl. Rub in the butter/coconut oil and stir in the raisins.

In a separate bowl, mash the banana and egg. Stir into the flour mixture and put into a well greased rectangular loaf tin.

Turn the oven down to 160 degrees C /325 degrees F/ Gas Mark 3 on the middle shelf for 1 hour or until cooked.

Grandmothers are unique and can be uniquely amazing, mine certainly was and like the bread she baked she will live on in my memory forever.