Homemade Bread – One of Life’s Simple Pleasures

It’s still cold outside, but the farm kitchen is warm today; we’re making some of our favorite breads to keep us and some of our regular customers satisfied for another week or so.  Nine-grain and Sunflower Honey Oat breads are on the menu today.

Most of the bread you buy at the grocery store has added chemicals and preservatives that improve shelf life and make the dough-processing easier to manage on a large scale. Check the label – do you even know what some of those ingredients are?  Every loaf looks and tastes exactly the same, day after day, year after year. They may have been on the shelf for up to a week before you purchase, and you could keep these breads on your counter for several weeks, and they’d never support a common mold spore!

All our breads at Old Loon Farm are hand-made on a small scale – 2 to 4 loaves in a batch.  We use chemical-free whole grains, unbleached, unbromated flours, fresh butter and oils, filtered water and our own farm-produced milk and honey in our breads.  We never use preservatives.  Our loaves won’t last for weeks on the store shelf or on your counter. But they don’t have to! They’re so delicious, they’ll be gone long before they spoil!

At Old Loon Farm, we use whole grains – wheat, spelt, rye, triticale, oats, barley, and other flours and nuts — in many of our hearty breads.  Whole grain breads are more than carbs – they’re chocked full of protein, minerals, vitamins and fiber to keep our bodies healthy. When compared to processed grains, whole grains reduce the risk of many chronic diseases.

Bread isn’t just for sandwiches, although our hearty breads make terrific sandwiches, from chicken salad to veggie to PB & J.  Breads also make yummy French toast and breakfast casseroles for tasty morning nutrition.  You can make delicious croutons from the ends and crusts of our breads – wonderful additions to soups and salads. We often keep ends and crusts in the freezer until we’re ready to make savory stuffing for turkey or chicken dinners. And then there are desserts – bread pudding, chocolate panini, and pudgy pies come to mind. When we were kids butter and jam – or Nutella – on a slice of homemade bread was a common dessert or snack that we could make ourselves.

So if you’ve never tried homemade bread, you’re missing a world of great taste and nutrition. Give us a call!  And starting in mid-May, we’ll be at the farmers market in Columbia City every Saturday morning with our breads.

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