This is day 24 in a 31 day series on hospitality. Start from the beginning here.
I invited myself over to Tammy’s house (hospitality in reverse) to bake bread last week. Tammy is a dear friend, a fellow homeschooler, an amazing cook and homemaker and the poster child for hospitality. She is raising the most wonderful kids and opening her home constantly to others. She’s so bubbly and kind and accepting and is always so inspiring to hang out with. We had such a wonderful day together, baking every kind of bread and muffin possible, while the fall breezes blew through the kitchen. Ahhh, what memories! We take a trip every year to the Apple Farm and we decided it was time to make some new traditions together.
Side note:: Carver’s Apple Farm has the best apple fritters. How many did I eat, you ask? Well, that’s for me to know and you to find out. ( I used to hate when my brother said that.)
Back to bread making day. For years, I have a longed to have a wheat grinder. I know what you’re thinking. But if you could taste the bread that comes from freshly ground wheat you’d stop calling me Amish and go get us a grinder. I’m gonna own one at some point but for now I just keep inviting myself over to the homes of my wheat grinding friends. There are so many health benefits to this method of bread making. I’ll refer you to Bread Beckers site for all the nitty gritty but suffice it to say—42 vitamins and minerals and LOTS of fiber, not to mention the amazing texture and taste. You need this bread in your life.
Tammy bought all her equipment and products from Bread Beckers. They have a store in Atlanta and you can order online or visit your nearest homeschooling convention, where they usually teach their bread making workshops.
She uses hard red wheat and has been making bread this way for 15 years, still using the same grinder. It’s a WhisperMill but don’t let the name fool you. There is nothing ‘whisper’ about this process. It’s loud and messy and so much FUN! We used hard red wheat for this bread.
Here’s the recipe she uses (from the Bread Beckers cookbook) minus the lecithin and gluten.
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I don’t exaggerate when I say that this is THE most wonderful textured dough I’ve ever had my hands in. And suffice it to say that Ms. Tammy is a little more ‘precise’ than me. She weighs her dough out so that all the loaves come out the same. I covet her OCD ways but my family will have to make due with varying sizes of bread.
She uses the oven method for letting the bread rise but she doesn’t do the second step of letting it rise once in the pan. She cooks it right away and it turns out great. Has someone been pulling the wool over our eyes all the years? No need for a 2nd rising? She swears by it.
And that’s it.
Bake and eat.
Now, you’re Amish too.
The recipe she uses makes 5 loaves. And two fishes.
Just kidding.
It’s a lot of bread but it freezes well and then there’s plenty for sharing. She grinds enough wheat to make bread, muffins and peanut butter bars and I have to say that EVERYTHING I tasted that was made from this week was to die for. SO incredibly tasty and so good for you. Drink lots of water. (great article by Sue Becker about our desperate need for more water). It’s loaded with fiber!
And I have to share some pics from around Tammy’s house. It’s one of those homes that welcomes you right in. You can tell she loves for her family well here.
Her husband makes these adorable kids’ kitchens. I want one. And another small child to go with it!
And have you ever seen anything so wonderful as this impeccably organized and beautiful pantry????
Banana nut muffins without the nuts. Delicious!
The turquoise chair that I tried to steal.
I hope you enjoyed meeting Tammy. I wish you could meet her in person, you’d love her and learn from her, like I do.
She sells Willow House and has an online store if you’d like to browse and shop. I love my Willow House products!
Thank you, Tammy, for a wonderful day and for loving and feeding your family and friends so well!
I’ve been using the same method for bread-baking (and the same recipe!) for about 6 years now. I love my Whispermill and I only allow the dough to rise once, too! We make cinnamon rolls with the dough and the family loves them. Enjoy your bread!
I would love to know more about the “oven method” of the second rise. This sounds revolutionary!
I love Bread Beckers too! Maybe its strange, but I find it comforting to read a blog that I relate to, even down to the recipes we use! Thanks for the post! (BTW I never thought of weighing out the dough to get even loaves, so mine are always different sizes too!)
Love the pantry and I would LOVE a kids kitchen like that:)
LOVE Tammy too! She’s such a sweetheart and so fun to be around! I met Tammy through a mutual friend Connie B. and now Tammy happens to go to Arrowhead Church where my husband and I attend.
ok.Ok. I use Bread Beckers too!! Had a huge garage sale so I could order the Nutrimill
grinder! sounds like a Jet plane! edie what I really want is that ?Bosch Mixer or is it an
Electrolux? I watched someone do this too and the dough was Ahhmazing!
Thanks for peaking my interest again!
I know Tammy too! 🙂 She is fabulous. Looks like ya’ll have fun!! I’m no good at inviting myself over but maybe I need to start trying to be more bold – hospitality in reverse, right?!!? ha!!
She sounds like a delight. Her home is beautiful and inviting. Love the built-ins in the dining room.
The only friend I had who owned a wheat mill moved away. I have been wanting one for so long. Maybe I can have a yard sale in the spring and buy me one. I love to bake bread. Will definitely be visiting that site. Thanks for sharing it.
I have never had an apple fritter.
Ruth
I think I’ll make a loaf of bread today because of you! 🙂 I’ve never used freshly ground wheat. I bet it’s amazing.
There are a couple of things I was wondering if you’re going to cover in this series:
1) How to be a gracious guest
2) What do you do with difficult guests (ones who are not easy -at all- to have around and/or ones that stay too long).
Beautiful pictures and all of the goodies look so yummy! I finally just got my baking supplies organized as part of my 31 Days series so now that I have THAT posted, it might be time to relax and make some bread!! Thanks for including the recipe!!
~ Claire
love the pictures of her home!
I’ve been using the wonder mill from breadbeckers for about 6 years now…..we love homemade bread! They sell bags of everything you need for ezekiel bread…and it’s TODIEFOR delicious. $4 per bag….and it makes 2 loafs. :)))
I too have the same mill and electrolux mixer. I’ve been grinding my own wheat for over 12 years (our mill was a wedding gift along with our first 25lb bucket of wheat! the mixer was a baby shower present!) There is nothing better! Thanks for spreading the news about such yummy stuff. I’ve used the Breadbeckers co-op everywhere we’ve lived in the southeast and up in N-VA! I”m loving this series and I really appreciate you sharing your wealth of wisdom! My favs. so far have been stocking your pantry and your baking station! So practical!
I love Breadbeckers. I live fairly close to them and I will say, it is well worth the trip to go to one of her classes. Sue is so knowledgable and helpful about making bread and healthy eating. I will say this, go hungry! It was very eyeopening to me to have homemade bread full of nutrition and flavor and how different it is than anything you purchase in a supermarket. I started making my own bread because of some health issues my husband had and his need to increase fiber as well as have long lasting carbs. We are all hooked now and nothing feeds a hurting soul like a loaf of homemade bread.
Once again I’ve learned something new from your blog. Grinding my own wheat? Never thought about it. Until now. I popped in at Bread Beckers several times today, reading the articles, looking at the products, and thinking this may be something I definitely need to pursue. Thanks for the gentle nudge.
Just wanted you to know that my 10-year-old daughter and I started a baking center thanks to you! She is thrilled. She is the baker of our family, with yummy homemade brownies and pies. I’ve never a pie that turns out as good as hers!
My daughter gave birth to our newest granddaughter, Rachel Ann, on 10-25. After reading your post on bread baking, I went home and baked bread for the nurses!
Your friends home is beautiful, and I’ll tell you, for a few seconds, you actually made me want a wheat grinder.
I like to bake bread. It’s one of the things I do ok at. My family LOVES homemade bread. I don’t enjoy cooking all that much, but I really like baking bread (and cakes, but that’s for another comment). I adore the smell of rising, baking bread. It does something wonderful to the house.
~FringeGirl
Edie – I’m a wheat bread baker, too…using the same recipe and good old Bread Becker sensibility! 🙂 My mill was a refurbished one that someone gave me because they didn’t need a second one… I wonder if there are refurbished ones out there somewhere for those who are ready to take the plunge…? Just a thought!
I love spotting Longaberger baskets in pictures on the internet! The first ones were woven right down the street from my house.