Give us this day our daily bread...

Wow! I baked bread today and MAN, was it good! This is a sweet bread...one of those suckers that weighs about 7 pounds when you take it out of the oven. It comes from the Benedictine monk, Dominic Garramone, who had his own PBS show for a time: Breaking Bread with Father Dominic.

The show is on hiatus, but I did catch it from time and time, and the guy's got an absolute knack not only for bread but for just oozing friendliness. (There's an article about him in the St. Anthony Messenger. )

At any rate, this recipe was floating around the internet and I snagged it and baked a batch...just rolled it up in a ball, let it rise, and locked it up in the oven for 20 minutes. I guarantee that this bread, a bit of jam, and a piece of fruit (and potentially a glass of milk) are absolutely all you need for lunch. And it should hold you for about three days afterward, too!

I adored this bread, but the kids weren't as crazy about it as I was. Maybe it's just my revulsion to Sarah Lee's new white bread...they used to have a decent Honey White bread, but took that off the market. Now they have some kind of "whole grain white bread" (whole grain, my ass!) that has the texture of toilet paper and the consistency of cotton batting. Bleech! So my plan was to get over to the Great Harvest Bread Company to get some decent bread, but I never did make it, and instead I put King Arthur to work.

I obviously highly recommend this...set aside two hours before you'd like warm bread from the oven and give this a try. I take no responsibility for what this might do to your diet, dental health, or hips.

Father Dominic Garramone's Basic Sweet Dough

(Yield: 1 recipe of dough)

3-1/2 to 4 cups of Hodgson Mill Naturally White Flour, divided
1 pkg. Fleischmann's RapidRise Yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 cup half-and-half or light cream
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Sift 2 cups of flour, yeast and salt into a large mixing bowl; stir until well blended.

Place half-and-half, butter and sugar in a saucepan; heat until butter is nearly melted. Let cool to 120 to 130 degrees.

Add half-and-half mixture to flour mixture; beat well. Add egg and vanilla; stir until blended. Add 1 cup flour; stir until thoroughly incorporated. Gradually add enough of the remaining ½ to 1 cup flour to make a soft dough that is rather sticky.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 3 minutes, or until the dough is a consistent texture. Form into a ball, place loaf onto a lightly-greased baking sheet, cover with a slightly damp towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place 45-55 minutes, or until nearly doubled.

About 15 minutes before end of rising time, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake loaf 20 to 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Use large spatulas to remove loaf from pan and place it on a wire rack to cool.

Or just stuff the whole thing into your Nursey-Mouth. Your choice.