Bread!

Bread! I don’t know how you grew up, but in my Russian home, bread was made weekly. In my husband’s Italian home…same thing! I can still smell that warm yeasty aroma as I walked in the door from school! The round enamel pans that held each loaf were strewn around our kitchen near warm windows or heaters. They were draped with heavy off white pieces of canvas that would gently rise out of the pan as if it was a pregnant Mom’s tummy growing with the hidden miracle inside.

Awww Bread! Fresh out of the oven, too hot to slice, but, not to hot to rip off a piece, as long as the baker did not see me! Then, with a square of butter melted just right, it was in my mouth. A great afternoon snack.

I am wondering if this rising (pun intended) interest in bread from scratch is because ‘corona’ is still here! Since we have extra time on our hands, (gyms, movies, malls, restaurants all closed) we may be looking for some comfort , in our childhood foods. Guessing that’s why we have another shortage in the grocery aisle… Yeast! Yes, can you believe it?

My husband got a longing for homemade, hot from the oven, melt in your mouth bread one day. I knew I still had yeast in my pantry, so he made some! Yum! The next week when he went to get yeast at the grocery…none was found. The bakery people said they cannot keep it on the shelf, and have to get theirs before they put it on the shelf, or they won’t have it for their own orders.

I thought that was absurd! But, I do like to study words in the Bible from time to time, so, this one piqued my interest. Bread!

Bread is spoken about from the first book of the Bible.

Genesis 3:19,

By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Then it is mentioned through most of the Old Testament books, and is also mentioned in many of the New Testament books as well.

Why? Such a simple food item as bread? Exactly! See even the poorest of the poor would be familiar with bread, and have some access to it. Bread was a different product in Biblical days. No bleach to make pretty white flour. No preservatives to keep bread soft, and mold free. No refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and no artificial anything! In other words, it was actually a nutritious item. Made from different grains that had the protein filled germ intact, raw salt that was needed to regulate body temperature, it was sustenance even if all you had was bread and water.

Therefore, it was a common item everyone ate, from the wealthy, who had their bread made by servants, to the very poor who gleaned the wheat dropped in the fields by the reapers, then ground that grain and made the bread themselves.

So, we have this very critical element in our lives right from the beginning. I don’t know about you but sometimes when I eat a piece of fresh bread, hot from the oven, I can see my Baba in the kitchen at the stove with her worn apron and a wooden spoon in her hand. It’s a sweet memory! Imagine going all the way back to Genesis and think of the first man and woman making bread. How did they even know how? Where did they get their recipes? Where did they find yeast?

This post may pose questions we won’t ever know the answer Just doing some thinking and wondering…what do you think?

Hoping this gave you a thought of comfort amidst the stress!

Please write and let me know.

Tomorrow….more on bread!