Granny Thompson's Yummy White Bread

Granny Thompson's Yummy White Bread

My husbands mother made a very yummy white bread that 
made delicious sandwiches. 

I gained about five pounds after eating those sandwiches 
for a week in high school :)

Here is a picture and the recipe. 

Ingredients;

2 pkg. yeast

4 T melted cooled shortening
4 C flour (approximately)
2 1/2 c Warm Water
1/2 c Sugar
1 T Salt

Mix water, sugar and yeast in a hole made by
the flour and salt called a well. 

Let rise and bubble 
add cooled, melted shorting and lemon juice into the hole and 
mix all together. 

Add 3 more cups of flour a cup at a time until you have 
a very soft dough. 

Dump on a floured board and knead. 

Put in an oiled bowl and flip to cover with oil and let raise. 
She used shortening so you can do that if you want to, 
I did.

Put into loaves and let rise again. 

Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes or so until golden brown.

Addition to this recipe - May 15. 2013
Instead of the shortening I added 4 Tbs. of potato flakes
and I loved the results. 

Try the potato flakes, you will love it!!

Now let your kids and their friends tear the top off, rip into chunks
 and slather with butter. 

That's what she did.:)

What great memories of 
Gram, Granny, Grandma
Matilda Mae Bishop Thompson.

Sourdough Starter with potato flakes and memories of Little Grandma Thompson

When I was much younger I was quilting one day with my husbands Grandma Thompson. Little Grandma we called her because she was all of 4' 10" tall. She was darling. She told me she had used a potato water start as yeast for bread making and that it stayed on the back of her wood burning stove. 

She was born in 1891 and of course lived the old fashioned way.

Potato Flake Sour Dough Starter Recipe:  

Starter (first time):

1 cup warm water

1/2 cup sugar

1 package (2-1/4 teaspoons) dry yeast

3 level Tablespoons instant potato flakes

Starter Feeder (subsequent times):

1 cup warm water

1/2 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons potato flakes

You can use it in pancakes too. (yummmmm) This is a potato bread recipe that I have used

for years and I love it and I may add a myriad of things to it but this is the recipe. 

Ingredients:

4 cups flour 

(I like Gold Medal Unbleached)

 4 cups water

2 Tbls. yeast 

(if using frozen yeast use cold water or you will kill your yeast)

1/4 cup sugar

4 Tbls. potato flakes

2 Tbls. salt

Mix;

This is the sponge.   Let rest for awhile and then add:

4 more cups flour a cup at a time. Sometimes it takes more and it may take less so keep it a little sticky (not goopy).  

Put some oil in a large bowl and put the dough in it. Flip it over to coat with the oil.

Put in a warm oven, not hot. Just prewarmed a bit because the dough will love being out of a draft in a warm spot. 

Let rise for about 45 minutes or until your finger mark stays down when you poke it.

Toss onto a dusted counter with a little flour and form into loaves.

Put in bread pans coated with Pam.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes for nice crusty bread. 

Take out of pan and put on a big wooden bread board. 

Slather the top with butter and let cool. 

Take to your friends warm in a brown lunch bag so it won't get squishy or if it is all cooled you can put it in plastic bags. 

You can use part whole wheat flour, oats, corn meal, sunflower seeds, millet, flax seed and whatever you want in the recipe.  It's fun to experiment. but remember the sticky or soft part when mixing not stiff. :) 

"What do you want for breakfast"

A few years ago some Basque students
 came to stay at our house in 
Northern California to perform at 
Sierra Jr. College 
near by. 

I asked them 
"what do you want for breakfast"
I was thinking that they would probably tell me 
bagels, croissant and fruit. 
No, they told me 

"Chocolate"

Hot Chocolate? 
I asked
So I whipped out my trusty little packet 
of Swiss Miss with 
marshmallows.

They must have thought me 
extremely 
lame. 

As I look back
I think me extremely 
lame!!

So what did they mean Chocolate? 
chocolate cake
 chocolate bar
or
pain au chocolat?

So there you have it. 

I should have served a 

big bowl 

of thick hot chocolate 

with some of these divine 

pain au chocolat!!

Yep I should have. 

Love,

Grammy T.

Pain au Chocolat, 

the classic french pastry a croissant filled with some nice chocolate, 

a typical breakfast in France. 

Gina LegalleJanuary 13, 2013 2:08 PM

The recipe for the average bowl of "chocolat" requires a bowl...not a mug, 3/4 filled with warm milk and then 3 big spoonfuls of instant chocolate mix. It's that simple. Nesquik makes a great instant "chocolat". When ordering a "chocolat" in a fine establishment you will be served a mug with melted chocolate in it and then hot milk on the side to dilute as desired. Very rich and very very good!!!