Aunt Alice's Health Bread

From Spoonbread and Strawberry Wine by Norma Jean and Carole Darden (1978)*

1 tblsp safflower or corn oil                         1 (1/4 oz) pkg active dry yeast
1 tblsp butter                                                 1/4 c warm water
1 tblsp honey                                                3 c whole wheat flour
1 tblsp molasses                                           2 c soy flour or unbleached white flour
1 tblsp brown sugar                                      1/2 c wheat germ
2 1/4 tsp salt                                                 1/2 c bran
1 c boiling water                                           1 c scalded milk

Place oil, butter, honey, molasses, brown sugar and salt in large mixing bowl.  Pour in hot water and scalded milk, stir well, and let cool until lukewarm.  Mix yeast in 1/4 c warm water and add to bowl of lukewarm liquids (hot liquid will kill rising action of the yeast).  Stir in flours, wheat germ and bran, blending well until dough is moist but not sticky. 

Turn onto floured board, let rest for 10 min.  Knead, adding more of any flour as necessary, until dough is elastic, smooth ball.

Place dough in greased bowl and turn that entire ball is oiled.  Cover bowl w/tea towel and let dough rise in warm place, 70-80 degrees [direct sun, on TV, near hot stove, etc.].  Leave until double in bulk; 1-2 hours depending on heat.

Punch dough down, sprinkle with flour, knead lightly on floured board, shaping into 2 loaves.  Place in 2 greased 8" bread pans, cover, and let rise again until doubled in size; 45 min to 1 hour.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven, 45 min - 1 hour, until bread browned and edges have shrunk from pan.  Remove from pans and cool.


Fresh Herb Butter

1 pint heavy cream
1 tsp combined chopped fresh chives, parsley and dill
1/4 tsp salt

Place cream in a mixing bowl and beat with electric beater until water separates from a solid mass.  Pour off the liquid, season the butter with herbs and salt, and spoon into decorative dish


*a collection of maternal and paternal family recipes, with mini-bios of the Darden ancestors, family and friends.  Aunt Alice was the college roommate of the Dardens' Aunt Norma; an excerpt from Aunt Alice's bio:  "Aunt Alice was a 'divorced woman' at a time when that label carried a hint of mystery and intrigue.  She left her native Birmingham (although the accent never left her) in the late forties and went to New York to seek her fortune and a better education for her daughters Vicky and Leah.  For many years she taught home economics in the public school system and ran an alteration shop evenings and Saturdays.  After her girls began careers of their own, she decided to see a bit of the world, packed her bags, and toured Europe and Africa, sending us a postcard from nearly every port.  From Spain she wrote that she had just left Morocco and had settled in a villa near Palma for the winter.  That simply knocked us out!"