My Daily Bread

I was reminiscing about the days when my wife stayed home and took care of our four kids. She had to maintain a strict budget and provide good meals the gang would eat. Going shopping with that many kids was crazy! We purchased a chest style freezer and would stock up to minimize expense and shopping trips. One product we used, and still use today, is Bridgford Foods frozen bread dough. She would bake a loaf or two a day. When I got home from work the house was perfumed with the scent of fresh baked bread. We baked some off the other day and I took photos and posted them on social media. Bridgford was kind enough to ask to use them on their social. Sure enough! Photos to make you hungry!

Fresh Baked Bridgford Bread

Grilled Cheese Bridgford Bread

Toast and Jam Bridgford Bread

Cinna Nom Nom Toast Brdgford Bread

Patience and Persistence

One of the bloggers I follow, Zoomie Station, recently wrote about a professor who taught her many things, but most importantly, patience and persistence. That got me thinking about how I learned what modicum of patience I possess. I would say my teacher, hands down, is my wife April. I'm not trying to butter her up, it is true and she knows it. What does that have to do with the unique loaf of bread above? Here is the back story.

During the part of our lives when we were having lots of kids April managed the household on my not-so-large salary. Short of weaving straw from gold, she could make something from nothing. One of the products she used was Bridgford frozen bread dough. It provided cheap and tasty bread to feed our gang. Recently my day job went away and I find myself with a bit of time on my hands between job searching and filling out tons of unemployment paperwork. I decided to have a shot at cutting the food budget. There, in the frozen food section I spotted the Bridgford and threw it in the basket. I took it home and began proofing it before baking. Unfortunately, I forgot about it. When I finally remembered, it had puffed up to basketball size. I was disappointed; thinking I had ruined it, I was about to chuck the dough in trash.

April said "Be patient, punch it down and it will rise back up again."
I replied, "Oh yeah, sure!"

Sure enough, it rose up albeit a little crooked. When one of the kids stopped by, she wondered what Artisan Bakery I had purchased the loaf from!

The moral to the story and the current mantra I plan to move forward with: Have patience and persistence, when something seems out of control - make the best of it. To every end there is a new beginning - I think that's from a song. Life's a picnic, enjoy!