Is it the person who is there for you through thick and thin ? Is it the person who drops everything to help you in a moment of great need.?
Friendship for me trancends a lot of boundaries , for me, it the little things that matter in a friendship . A true friendship means you do not have to explain yourself because your actions cement your intentions.
So, it was Girl Scout cookie pick up weekend recently and when I went to collect my cookies from the Cookie Mom ( thanks Julie) the house was awash with the most intoxicating aroma of deliciousness. It smelt like a wonderful cookie recipe had been executed , like a delicious sweet bread had invented . Needless to say - I had to ask what the delicious aroma was all about ?
When I was presented with two delicious looking loaf pans and a recipe that defies explanation - my quest for Amish Friendship bread was on . I am sure many of you have heard of the Amish . People who live a seemingly simple life of traditional roles within their society - as such I would expect them to be able to whip a wonderful bread recipe - at a moments notice .
A few days after cookie pick up one of the troop leaders came by my house for soup pick up (thanks Kate) , and presented me with the "starter" baggie for the Amish friendship bread . A wonderful surprise and I was thrilled to be able to tackle this in earnest .
When you read this recipe you may think I have lost my mind , started to write gibberish or have invented a completely new language for recipe writing . I assure you , those amongst us with the gift of bread making will recognise the basics of this recipe . How we started a "starter" , continue to nourish the "starter" until it is time to give the "starter" a good feed before fostering it out to various friends .
Once you split the starter you will be left with a scant amount of starter in the bowl , and hesitate to think that you will even be able to make a bagel out of it . I assure you this thought crossed my mind and I even thought I had misread the recipe , I was pleasantly surprised , after following the recipe and adding all the essential ingredients two wonderful loaves were born .
Think of this as a chain letter for breadmaking without any of the dread . So , if you hear of a bread chain making the rounds in your community - tap into it , it is a lot of fun .
