Bread

Bread....the food of life.  It is a staple in my house....we eat some pretty much every day.  Oat nut, whole grain, whole grain white, whole wheat, pumpernickel, sourdough...you name it, we love it all.  But that is not the bread I was thinking about when thinking about what to blog about today.  I was thinking of friendship bread.
    
Friendship bread, you know, that stuff your friend gives you in a baggie "this is a starter", and then hands you a baggie of goopy looking white stuff with a sheet of instructions.  She says "this stuff is really good, you have GOT to try it".  That is really friend code for "I got this crap from someone and I don't know what I am going to do with it, so I am passing it on to you...."  Or something to that effect.


That is how my foray into friendship bread began.  You see the dough you start with is just a small bit of the dough you end with.  You have to "feed" the goopy stuff in the baggie, and smoosh it...daily.  Then you divide it into other baggies to give to your friends, and keep some to bake.  Now I must admit, the stuff is delicious.  We love it at my house.  I have actually never met anyone who didn't like it when they try it, but I digress.


So, I got this starter from my friend, and I made some.  But rather than divide it up and give it to more friends, I made it all, and decided to give it to my kids' teachers and our friends for holiday treats.  I wrapped it in pretty cellophane with ribbons, and put it in bags, and gifted it.  Everyone raved!!  You see, I didn't make the boring old friendship cinnamon type bread, I got creative.  I made vanilla, then vanilla with chocolate chips.  Chocolate and double chocolate.  Banana, and banana with chocolate chips.  I was experimenting, and my friends and family loved it.


Then I got the bright idea to sell it at Bazaars and Craft Shows.  I made large and small loaves.  I sold the large for $5.00 each and the minis for $2.00 each or 3 for $5.00.  I almost sold out completely at the first show.  I was hooked!


So now I bake in the fall, and sell in the holiday season.  I have experimented with even more flavors and now also make pumpkin bread with a delicious cream cheese filling.  That is very popular.


My little hobby is not very lucrative.  But it is enjoyable and satisfies the creative art of my being.  Plus my kids LOVE it when i make muffins!  My friends now look forward to receiving gifts from me at the holidays, as does the mailman, the Schwan's man and the kids' teachers.