Swedish Limpa Bread

I had a good laugh as making bread became such a new passion during Shelter in Place. Stores ran out of flour, yeast was scarce and people were leaving Zoom meetings to tend their sourdough starters.
I have been making my own bread for over 20 years on a regular basis, ever since I bought my first bread machine. I know purist may complain but I love my bread machine, with it, making my own bread becomes manageable.
 I have a soft childhood memory of a neighbor bringing over this very different kind of homemade bread, at least it was different from what was in our home in the late 50's and early 60's.  For some reason the name stuck with me like a sweet melody...Swedish Limpa Bread.
I was excited to find a recipe in my favorite bread machine recipe book: Bread Machine Magic (Linda Reghberg & Lois Conway). These days I have the machine make the dough and then I shape it into loaves, let it rise and then bake it myself.

Swedish Limpa Bread
This recipe makes two 6 inch loaves.

Ingredients...put them into your bread machine in this order.
1 1/4 cup water
2 1/2 cup bread flour
1 cup rye flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
grated rind of two oranges
2 teaspoon active dry yeast

1) Set the machine to "dough", on my machine it's 90 minutes.
If you are making this bread without a machine...you are on your own and I sure you can figure out how to get it to work.

2) Once the dough is done remove from the machine and form into two round loaves.

3) Place them on a lined baking sheet ( I use silicon mats, parchment works as well).

4) Dust the tops of the loaves lightly with flour and score with a cross hatch.

5) Heat your oven on the lowest setting for two minutes.

6) Cover the loaves with a clean dish towel and place in the barely warm oven for 50-60 minutes.

7) Remove the loaves ( and the dish towel) and preheat the oven to 375 F

8) Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on the bottom.

9) Cool on a rack and enjoy !!

Notes
These loaves freeze beautifully.
They make great toast with a bit of orange marmalade.
I have experimented with using 3/4-1 cup whole wheat bread flour for some of the white flour.
It works well, making a slightly denser loaf.

WHOLE Wheat Bread from the bread machine

Most of the recipes in my favorite bread machine book use a combination of some white bread flour in their recipes.
Recently, my friend Laurie, raved about this ALL whole wheat bread recipe. I had to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised by the first loaf I made. It is not a door stop and makes great toast, it is a hearty, chewy and delightful loaf.

Whole Wheat Bread
Adapted from the Guilty Kitchen recipe.

It make a two pound loaf.
Use the whole wheat setting on your bread machine.
I used the light crust setting too.


Ingredients
1 cup milk (or buttermilk, skim milk, almond milk, soy milk any kind of milk)*
2/3 cup water
2 tbsp  butter (or vegetable shortening, like Earth Balance)
2 tbsp honey, (or agave or brown sugar)
2 tsp salt
3 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup cereal or seeds: I used  half rolled oats and half whole millet.
(The original recipe says: "I used 7 grain cereal, a blend or flax, millet and sunflower seeds, just straight sunflower seeds and old fashioned oats all successfully. ")
2 1/4 tsp  active dry yeast

 * All I had on hand was vanilla soy milk so I used that and reduced the honey by one tablespoon.

1. Place all ingredients in the order they are listed into the baking pan of your bread machine.
2. Set your machine for whole wheat bread and light crust.
3. Check the mixture after 10 to 15 minutes to be sure the dough is not too sticky or too dry.
Adjust accordingly.
4. Remove from machine when done and allow to cool on a baking rack for at least one hour.
5. Slice and enjoy!

I look forward to trying other seed, nut and grain combinations !!

I love my bread machine

With the popularity of the no-knead bread, my bread machine has languished for almost a year, only coming out of the pantry (the garage) for special appearances when I need dough for pizza, focaccia or rolls. Lately I have gotten tried of the the no-knead bread...

But let's back up a minute, I remember 10 or 15 years ago when my wonderful sister-in-law first got her bread machine from Costco. She sang it's praise and when I tasted her homemade bread I was delighted. For Bob's birthday, I bought  him one !!

It's an Oster and I can count on my fingers the number of times I have actually bought sliced bread since this magical machine came into our lives !! Along with the machine my SIL also recommended a fabulous recipe book to go with it.

I am on my second or third copy as it keeps falling apart for all the use it gets. I have tried many of the recipes and they are so tasty and varied, something for everyone. I have bought copies of this book to give to family and friends once they buy a bread machine, it's that good.

Recently I have returned to my dear bread machine, not the original but the same make and model. (For some reason we have found them easy to pick up at yard sales...)
I have discovered a recipe I had not tried before and now it is our favorite bread for toast or snacks with homemade nut butter and jam.

Marilyn's Everyday Health Bread

This recipe is for a 1 1/2 pound loaf which what my machine makes.

Best to add the ingredients in this order:

1 1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup bread flour
1/2 cup rolled oats ( I use the multi-grain version from Trader Joe's, do not use instant oatmeal.)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder
2 teaspoons active dry yeast *

Select Light Crust setting and press start.
I do check it after the first 10 minutes or so be sure the dough looks right.

This is perfect dough, if it seems too dry add a teaspoon more water, too wet a tablespoon more flour.
In 3 hours when the cycle is complete remove loaf to a rack and allow to cool for an hour before slicing.

The perfect loaf !! It does really work better if you wait that hour before slicing into it. I know the smell is killing you but be patient !!

* about yeast...even though the Bread Machine Magic books tell you NOT to use instant rise yeast in their recipes, it has worked just fine for me. I used it because it was what I had on hand. I made sure to use a scant 2 teaspoons in this recipe.
Another trick is to buy your yeast at places like Costco or online.They sell it in one pound vacuum sealed blocks. It is much cheaper this way. Once I open it, I pour it into a glass container with a good lid and store it in my fridge. You can share a pound with a friend if you don't go through it very quickly, although my yeast lasts in the fridge for 6 months.

Gift idea # 3, homemade cheese and bread

Last Christmas  I got a cheese-making kit from my niece and discovered how simple it was to make fresh cheese. I have made it many times since then to rave reviews at parties and dinners.You certainly don't need the kit to make this fresh cheese.

Make the basic fresh cheese. I use white vinegar instead of lemon for a sure thing. Then turn it into a great cheese spread with garlic and herbs or try the roasted red pepper spread.

Put it into a cute little ramekin add some fancy crackers or homemade bread, voila a great gift !!

I was delighted one year when someone made me several long baguettes and gave them to me on a pretty enamel tray. I still have that tray !!
Remember, gifts don't have to be expensive or fancy, homemade rules !!