Aunt Barb's Bread Book

Oh! What a book! I'm in love with Aunt Barb! Even if you believe you don't have the time to make bread from scratch...please take the time to read this book about bread making the way it was done in times gone by. Like me, you may be inspired to embark on a new and I believe, satisfying, stress-relieving journey to the kitchen and a hot oven. And NOTHING smells as beautiful as bread baking. That aroma wafting through your house will draw people to your home like moths to a flame! Aunt Barb tells us, "These breads are not quick and easy. At least not until you get used to making them." (pg. 6) Fortunately for us, we can attain this goal by using this book. This little gem is mighty! Inside its pages we learn recipes for how bread was made in the 19th and early 20th centuries adapted for today. Barbara Swell captures long ago sentiments about bread making and the bread makers. You will read snippets about bread from the pages of magazine articles, newspapers and other material sources from long ago ranging from 1833 to 1918. We are taught in the gentlest way in a warm and friendly manner about the techniques, ingredients, tools and "devices" for producing our own breads reminiscent of those our beloved greats (grandmothers, aunts, etc.) created. I felt like I was ensconced in the warm and homey kitchen in Barbara Swell's North Carolina home. Barbara recommends equipment and ingredients easily available such as cast-iron cookware, glass bread pans, common flours, and yeast.  Anchor Hocking 5 Inch x 9 Inch Glass Loaf Dish  (I'm definitely purchasing a Lodge Drop Biscuit Pan,  Lodge L7B3 Pre-Seasoned Drop Biscuit Pan !) Shares helpful websites, recommended reading for further instruction, and Barbara's own blog for her own tutorials in this art.This is not an illustrated, step-by-step, cookbook. This small book is something else, an addition, if you will, to those handy books. It is a valuable historical resource with charming tidbits of the importance bread and bread making has been in our past---INCLUDING 31 recipes! So much has been lost in passing down time honored traditions of "home-making." I'm pleased to see a resurgence of these times and traditions passed on to those like me who missed out on having a grandmother's or other matriarch's loving handed-down instruction. I am grateful. I'd love to meet Ms. Swell but in a way I already have through this delightful and charming book.I can't wait to make my first sponge, gem, and definitely her father's bialys his parents brought with them from Bialystoker, Poland where his family was forced to flee from persecution following the 1917 Bolshevik revolution. On page 60, there is a touching and heartwarming photo of Mr. Leon Swell proudly proffering a pan of bialys. I plan to practice, practice, practice! Speaking of which...I think I hear my oven calling.Bottom line: This book makes me smile!***Update: 12/22/13***I love the Lodge Drop Biscuit pan. I put it in my oven to pre-heat while making the biscuit dough, then when it's nice and hot, I put a dab of butter in each biscuit holder and then top it with the biscuit. I also use it to make the English muffin recipe in this book. Yum!

It's more of a glorified pamphlet at 72 pages, but it's got a nostalgic quality to it. Most info is brief. A missive on bread.The are a total of 30 bread or bready dessert- like recipes and one marmalade recipe.If you want a quick, cute and cheap read about bread, vintage baking methods and grain history, then this little pamphlet is perfect. If you're hungry for more baking history you're better off going with Eliza Acton's Modern Cookery for Private Families or her English Bread For Domestic Use. There's also Fannie Farmer 1896 Cookbook. And of course, Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management.

Expected this to have some old bread recipes that would be easy to follow. The book is mainly a history of the art of bread making but there aren't many recipes and the font is small so it is a little hard to follow. It also says that you should buy a good bread book with pictures if you want good recipes. Don't recommend.

Some great bread recipes in here

I have been considering making my own bread. I just finished reading this book and I feel that it is just perfect for letting me know about the process of bread making. I have learned a great deal. I am not quite sure that I am ready to do this. But reading and 're reading this will certainly be an option for me. This book is superior to more contemporary books because it contains the knowledge and experience of experts,women who have lived and done this with love and pride for families who loved them too.

A little short, but full of nice recipes. I have only tried one so far, but I found the directions easy to follow. I like the aside comments and bits of history and trivia. I expected it to be a little more like a normal cookbook, but this is more like a historical commentary on bread baking in America, that also teaches you how to make some. I'm glad I have it, though!

I love having vintage cookbooks will be buying more

I was interested to see if this book ( as small as it is ) was going to be a helpful bread making book, and it is. Good ideas for recipes and rolls.Looks like an " Old Timey " book, but it is really an up to date read. I enjoyed it.Sandy Hatton

Great little fun present