Jam and bread.

Last weekend my dear husband carved some time out of his busy day and drove out to the county to pick some strawberries for me, for this year's supply of jam. By the time he finally got back home, I was starting to get worried! Apparently because of the heavy rain we had this spring, many of the strawberry plants rotted in the fields and the local crop was very poor. Chris had to pick for several hours to bring home a decent quantity of berries, and they weren't the best looking ones we've ever gotten either.

I set to work right away to make jam, and I did get one batch done. It was delicious! I love the brilliant red colour of strawberry jam.

There weren't enough berries leftover to make a second batch, only for us to eat a few, and to freeze some for making smoothies.

I noticed that there are Ontario berries in the grocery store this weekend. They're more expensive than pick-your-own, but not too bad. Maybe I will pick some up to make more jam, I haven't decided yet. I do love homemade strawberry jam on top of oatmeal on a cold winter morning!

Also this past week, I made two loaves of regular white bread, because we were out of bread and I knew there was none on sale at the grocery store. (I refuse to pay $3.50 or even more for a single loaf!) I accidentally left the loaves to rise a bit too long, and they turned out huge!

I'd like to make homemade bread more often to replace store bread for sandwiches, but I am confused about a few things. For one, how can I make the crust softer? Whenever I bake bread the crust is downright hard, which makes it difficult to slice evenly, and isn't very nice to eat sideways in a sandwich. Also, is it possible to get loaf pans that are longer, like the length of a loaf of Wonderbread? I just have regular small loaf pans, and my loaves always end up so tall that the slices look silly, like slices of a giant mushroom. Two such slices make an enormous and strangely shaped peanut butter sandwich.

If anyone has the answers to those questions, or even just any general bread-baking tips, please do share. :)

Change of topic: Currently, Canada Post is having a labour dispute, which means we haven't had any mail service in Canada for two weeks. That means that we have had to shut down our Etsy shop. Thank goodness that right before the strike started, Chris got another job, as an industrial mechanic. It isn't quite full time but it's been such a blessing for us. This past week they sent him out of town, down to Tennessee. He brought me back this lovely plate from Cracker Barrel (a restaurant we don't have in Canada).

He knows I love songbirds, and it matches our livingroom walls perfectly. I can't wait to hang it up. Our nest is blessed indeed. :)

Comments

[Stephanie]

I envy your giant loaves of bread. Mine never rise :(

[carrie Drake]

I am very cheap...usually make bread for Christmas gifts with jars of summer jam. So I make smaller loaves in smaller pans (I now cheat and use foil pans from the dollar store, you can reuse them several times). If you would normally divide dough into 2, I would divide it into 4. They are perfect size for kiddies' sandwiches!

[Shari]

When I pull a loaf of bread out of the oven, I spread a little butter on the top while it is still really hot. The butter melts easily and sort of soaks into the crust. After the bread is cooled, the top of the bread is nice and soft - and the flavor is amazing!

[Julie]

I have been wondering the same thing about the hard crust. I'm going to give Shari's butter thing a try next time!

[Linda]

Carrie beat me to it, I was going to say make four loaves instead of two. Its what I do.

[Sarah Jones]

I have the same issue of hard crusts when I make bread. The butter helps a lot, but does nothing for the sides. I've been reading up here and there online and found some methods to try.

Wrap the loaves with a damp towel straight out of the oven.

Change butter for shortening in your recipe.

Use a recipe with egg and/or milk.

You can also try bagging the fresh loaves in plastic to trap the moisture in the crust, but I've read that can also promote mold growth if it isn't used up quickly enough. That's never a problem at my house!

[molly w.]

Thank you for reminding me I wanted to get out berry picking next week and try making my first jam! I commiserate about the wet weather, same here.

[Marijke]

The butter on top is a gread idea! And if you'd like to make your own bread, why don't you take the book 'Artisan bread in five minutes a day'? I wrote about it on my new blog, . I use it now for a few weeks, and it's just great! You bake your bread fresh everyday, and it really takes far less then five minutes, being a good alternative for grocery store bread for busy mommys like us :). I can only recommend.. This is the website: <http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/page/2>.

I absolutely love your blog! I'm living in the city of Berlin, and I'm just dreaming to get out and have a little farm house and some land to have our own vegetables, chicken, fruits and so on. Thanks for being inspiring..

[Marijke]

Now somehow the link to my blog didn't work, so you can't see my bread.. Sorry.. Here it is again.. http://petitedaphne.wordpress.com/

[Laura Jeanne]

Thanks for the idea! I think I have enough loaf pans around somewhere to do that.

[Laura Jeanne]

Thank you--I will be sure to try that next time. :)

[Laura Jeanne]

Thank you for all the ideas! Bread in my house never has time to get moldy, either. :)

[Laura Jeanne]

Thank you for your kind words, Marijke. I have made artisan bread before and I love it personally--but the kids prefer something softer for peanut butter or egg salad sandwiches. :)

[Lara]

Brushing the loaf with milk or buttermilk before baking also helps give it a tender crust. I'm not sure what to do about the sides being hard - perhaps adjusting the oven temperature down just slightly would help?

[Melanie~ Our Ash Grove]

I make all our bread- and it took years until I was able to get it right! We make our regular sandwich loaves 1/3 white flour the rest wheat- and we bake it at 350 for 35 minutes in regular stainless steel loaf pans. The crust is never crusty- I think because we do not use a very hot temperature. Occasionally I will try a different recipe, and bake at 375 and then the crust is too hard. Also, I find it does not need to rise much in the pans. When the dough reaches the sides of the pans it's ready to go in- if it balloons up above the pan, it's too high.
Good luck! And we just made strawberry jam too- I had not thought to put it on oatmeal! Yum!

[Provincial Homemaker]

That jam looks delicious. In terms of tins, my husband picked up a couple of long and deep tins from a garage sale last year - they bake a loaf that more closely approximates the shape of a store bought loaf. I have, since them, seem them from time to time in the op shop. In fact there was one in our local op shop on friday - pity you are in canada and it is in Australia.

[Leah]

Sorry to hear about your troubles with the postal strike. Here I was just about to order one of your lovely wooden teething rings for my baby boy! -but will wait patiently until things are back up and running (hopefully this week? We sure miss the mail here in rural Canada!)

The jam looks beautiful. And strawberry jam on oatmeal sounds great. Yay for simple pleasures!

[Lindsay]

Placing a pan of water in the bottom of your oven will keep the humidity up while your bread is baking and keep the crust nice and soft :)

[Laura Jeanne]

Okay, thank you, I'll try that as well. I have lots of great ideas now! :)

[Laura Jeanne]

Apparently Canada Post will be up and running by Tuesday, so we'll be reopening in a few days. The only problem is that we're out of stock of everything, since Chris has been busy with his other job, and his free time has been doing up a big wholesale order--but I'll tell him to do up a few teething rings at the very least. :)

[Laura Jeanne]

Thank you. I have always baked bread at 375--next time I'll try 350 and see what happens. :)

[Chasingthesparrows.blogspot.com]

Laura, it's the slightly spoiled, messy looking berries that make the best jam!

Also, to get bread more similar to supermarket sandwich bread, try subbing out a small portion of your recipe's white flour for gluten flour. This gives it that soft and "smooshable" texture. You'll have to experiment with the portions though until it feels about right...

I use Bob's Red Mill brand. It's a tad expensive but since you are only using a tablespoon or two at a time it goes a long way.

[Laura Jeanne]

Well I have to say, this year and last the strawberries I used were overripe, and both batches of jam were ridiculously good!

I will definitely try the gluten flour. I wonder if they even carry it at the bulk store? I'll have a look.

[Morgan]

Hey there, I bake all our bread. And I finally found the best way to make it. I basically use a recipe I got from the book: Artisian Bread in Five Minutes a Day. But I add a bit more flour. The recipe says to use 7 cups of flour that is not compacted at all but I do the opposite and scoop the flour up and not worry about it being compacted. So first I use an old very large icecream container. I use 3 cups of lukewarm water, 1 1/2 tb yeast, 1 1/2 tb salt, 2 tb sugar. Disolve that and give it a little stir. Add 6 cups of flour, and just stir it with a spoon. When its all incorporated it will be really wet but then you fold in the last cup of flour, enough that you can handle it but its still sticky. Put the lid on it and let it rest in a warm place. You can leave the lid open a crack so the lid wont blow off while it rises. Let it rise till it doubles about an hour and a half. divide into 3 pans (greased of course) Let it rise another hour (or until its the size you want) Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 35-45 min. You do not need to make sure that the tops are real brown. They are good to come out once they start turning light brown. Trust me on this. You most likly are baking your bread too long. They will be so moist and tender if you bake them just long enough. And no longer. This is the best bread! My family loves it. Please Try it

[PurePixie]

We bake our own bread every day. Homemade organic wholewheat bread is so yummy! On weekends we often add some nuts or fruits.
Whenever we want a soft crust, we wrap the loaf in a napkin (or any piece of cloth) as soon as it get out of the oven to keep the moisture in. We let it cool down a little bit and then put the bundle in container or an air-tight bag.

[Morgan]

I forgot to add the 1/2 cup of oil to the liquid for the bread recipe. I was just mixing my bread up and realized that

[sheila]

There are older bread pans still circulating out there....I found 2 at our Goodwill store...they are marked as follows: Bake King (King Of Bakeware) Pat.1751268 and has the number 44 in a circle in the center ~~~ the other is marked EKCO T640 USA 1`-3/4" I will give you the link to my favorite bread recipe....it is really easy to work with and makes nice soft loaves of bread. http://thesecondtwinsews.blogspot.com/2010/11/bread-pudding-with-warm-butter-sauce.html
Another option to soften the crust is to lightly brush the tops with butter when the bread comes out of the oven. I find it easiest to cut any bread with my electric knife (a wedding gift from years ago).

[Joy]

Sounds to me like you have a mighty nice and thoughtful husband. I'm no help with the bread questions, though.

[Thelma L Hamilton]

I live in Watertown NY. I wish we were neighbors. I love your blog. I feel we are a kindred spirit. I have a complicated life that I am trying to make simple. Everyday is a challenge to simplify my life. Bless you and your family. I subscribed to your blog to have a permanent reminder to make the changes to get where I want to be. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing your life.