Papa's Retirement Bread

Oliver, Sadie and Logan decided Papa needed a retirement project et voilà.  Bread making made easy.  Fitting that Papa's Grandpa Long owned the UNEEDA Bakery in Calgary in the early part of the twentieth century.

Prepare the dough one day and bake it the next. Yummy and crusty.  This recipe is prepared in large print to cater to the Papa generation of eyes.

In a large mixing bowl 

add 3 cups of white unbleached flour.  

Add 1 3/4 teaspoons salt (kosher if desired) 

and 1/2 teaspoon yeast.  

Whisk together.  

Add 1 1/2 cups water 

and mix.  

The dough will look like a shaggy mess.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it set for 

12 to 18 hours 

at room temperature. Do not refrigerate.

Preheat the oven to 

450 degrees. 

Then preheat a pan with a lid for 30 minutes.  

We used a corningware pot but a Le Creuset or like pan would be awesome.

Once the pot is in the oven to preheat dump the dough onto a heavily floured surface. Shape the dough and 

let rest, covered with saran, for 30 minutes 

while the pan heats.

Remove the pan carefully from the oven and  carefully drop the dough into the pan.  You may want to have floured hands as the dough may be sticky. 

Put the lid on the pot and 

return it to the oven for 30 minutes.  

Remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes.

This recipe can easily be doubled.  

Some variations for a different taste-

shredded sharp cheddar 

 cranberries, orange zest and almonds

rosemary, lemon zest and gruyere cheese

raisin, walnut and cinnamon

Logan and Sadie help Papa with the stirring and make sure he does everything just like Mom.

Resting bread                  

Papa shapes the dough.

Teamwork

Fresh from the oven.

Oliver can't wait to taste Papa's bread
 when he is a little older.

Time for a little active living to work up 
an appetite for fresh bread.