And Speaking Of Bread . . .

Do you make your own yeast bread? Did you know that all you ever need is that first package of yeast, and then you'll never have to buy yeast again . . . "Really! How is that?" you may ask. Just save a small chunk of the risen yeast dough before you shape and bake your bread. Keep that chunk of dough in a glass or ceramic bowl, (covered with plastic wrap if the glass or bowl doesn't have a cover, wrap that does not touch the dough,) or in a covered glass bottle. The next time you decide to make bread, remove that small chunk of bread dough from the refrigerator a couple of hours before you plan to make bread. Then, once you have kneaded fresh bread dough sans yeast, simply knead that small piece of risen yeast dough into the fresh bread dough and set the freshly prepared bread dough (which includes the small piece of dough that has yeast) in a glass or ceramic bowl twice or three times the size of the dough that you have just prepared, a bowl large enough to give the freshly kneaded dough plenty of room to rise. And rise it will . . . without the addition of more yeast! Then all you have to do is follow the recipe . . . punch down the dough and shape that dough into bread or bun shapes. Allow the shaped dough to rise for a second time. Armenian women who survived the Armenian Genocide early in the 20th Century always marked a cross (using the side of their hand) on the top of the rounded loaf of bread dough, a cross which would disappear when the bread had risen sufficiently to place in the oven to bake. Then into the preheated oven with that bread dough, and soon the aroma of freshly baked bread will waft throughout your home . . . Out of the oven and . . . Hopefuly you've baked several loaves, because that first loaf will not last very long.