A Dough Story – Mom Bakes Bread in Snowstorm

February 1, 2010

Meteorologists predicted a lot of snow for our area this weekend and the first thing my family asked me related to bread, not money. “Do you have all the ingredients to make Aunt Bea’s pocketbook yeast rolls?” My answer, of course, was yes.

Taking care of errands on Friday, I confess I stopped by the grocery store to buy a roast to cook in the crock pot. There was no need for me to rush and buy milk and bread because I have learned to be prepared for most unexpected emergencies. There is a verse in Proverbs which says, “Wisdom is the tree of life to those who find it, and happy are those who embrace it.”

Among the staples I keep in my pantry are cans of Pet Milk, water, batteries, vegetables, rice, flour, sugar, and Fleishmann’s Rapid Rise Yeast.

After I walked in the kitchen, I turned the temperature on the crock pot to high and gingerly placed the eye of round roast in the Corning Ware dish, covered it with dry onion soup mix and water.

Checking the time on my wristwatch, I knew there was ample time to refuel my daughter’s car before picking her up from work as well as finish reading a book, “The Shack” a friend had recently shared with me.

We drove from cloudy skies to skies filled with millions of snowflakes in a matter of ten minutes. It looked like a cloud of light burst in front of us. Although our intentions were not to travel into a storm, there was nothing we could do to avoid it.

As we pulled into the garage on Friday evening, I was thankful to know that while dinner was cooking there was enough time to mix up a batch of Aunt Bea’s pocketbook yeast rolls.

It is Sunday morning now and the snowy ice mixture was so bright that it woke me up. My daughter asked if it was okay to warm up the leftover yeast rolls for breakfast today rather than eating cereal. It sounded like a good idea because it freed up a block of time for me to accomplish another task.

Our kitchen smelled like a bakery this morning after only a few minutes. When we ate our breakfast of yeast rolls, honey, and hot tea, everyone was satisfied and returned to their schedules. Although it was only a half hour we spent together, I felt richer for the experience because I was able to share a portion of my heart through fond memories of my Aunt Bea.

I have been asked why I do not bake the bread more often, which gave me reason to pause and think. As a matter of fact, the last time I remember baking these yeast rolls was on December 18 last year when snowy weather kept us together.

I realized there were three questions to be answered in order for me to commit to the time required for the bread baking process.

1) Who will be eating the bread?
2) What is the occasion for the bread?
3) When will the bread need to be ready for consumption?

Even though we drove into a storm, it turned out to be a good thing. We have spent more time together as a family than our regular schedules permit. It has been inconvenient in several aspects but this is one weekend which gifted me with a much needed respite.

A mixture of inconvenience, laughter, laundry, yeast rolls and family tell the whole dough story.

Angela Scott is an author who diligently works to encourage and inspire you, and those with whom you live and work to continually find hope. Visit my website to get your own copy of Aunt Bea’s pocketbook yeast rolls and share your love with others.

“Live your life as an exclamation, not an explanation.”

 

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