Nostalgia
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines nostalgia as: “a sad pleasure experienced in recalling what no longer exists, blending happiness from fond memories with a slight sadness that the moment cannot be recovered.”
I am not a nostalgic person. I tend to concentrate on today. If I am looking forward it is for a trip I have planned in the future. If I look back it is not on purpose. I do holiday traditions and use my great grandmother’s china, and that sort of thing; but I could just as easily NOT do those things.
I tend to toss things. Getting attached is not a thing I do easily. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good picture; those I hold on to. Making memories is important but I feel like I do those purposefully.
Hard seasons and stressful situations can actually cause blanks in memory. If a situation is completely negative, abusive, or otherwise regrettable, we protect ourselves by not remembering it. Being nostalgic is not an option.
For me, being very young and in an abusive marriage with an extremely sick handicapped child and his sibling, my brain worked overtime to protect me. While I was working overtime to protect my littles’ peace and create sweet memories for them, I was blanking out whole chunks of time for myself.
Of course no situation is all bad, there were so many lovely moments. But it did create in me a pattern of not looking back and just being present because of having no idea what tomorrow would bring medically, emotionally, etc.; not trusting the future, and definitely not wanting to relive the past.
I was recently given a sourdough starter (again). I appreciate the gesture but I am just not a sourdough baker. I have tried and failed and I really have no desire to perfect it. I do; however, admire those that do and I really appreciate some good sourdough bread or bagels. I digress….
Anyway, that act of being given a starter reminded me of a time in my past when my children were very little and we lived in Pennsylvania. I swear to you, out of the blue, I became nostalgic for a time gone by. It completely reminded me of a time when I was in a MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group. We met once a month at a local church (it is a national organization that I assume is still going strong). It was my only connection with the outside world besides church and I LOVED it.
One of the mothers brought Friendship Bread starter to some of us in the group one day. That was over 30 years ago so we did not have the internet like we do today. She brought written copies of how to use the starter and make the bread. Back then the bread was all we made, no cinnamon rolls, muffins or cookies. Just lots and lots of loaves of bread.
I remember being so excited to have the starter and I was so determined to keep it alive and to pass it along. Well, pretty soon every other mother I knew had a starter and so I didn’t have anyone to pass it on to. Discard was not a thing so needless to say I had A LOT of friendship bread starter and I made A LOT of loaves of bread until everyone was just over it. (It is a sweet bread, not a bread for making sandwiches) I remember being so sad to get rid of that friendship bread starter. (A therapist would love to unpack what exactly that starter represented for me back then, but that’s for another day). Now I chuck starters and ruined bread and recipes without a second thought; but back then it felt BIG.
Long story short, from my nostalgia I looked up Friendship bread on PINTEREST and oh my, the recipes galore. I knew the basic sweet bread recipe but now there are so many options of ways to use the starter. I made the bread this week and took it to work and of course everyone loved it because it really is good. Boy did the taste take me back. I won’t be handing out starter to others unless they really really want some, but I will be exploring other recipes to use it in.
Longer story short, this sojourn down memory lane and allowing myself to feel what I was feeling about a time in my past has been good. Looking back or remaining in the past because you want to relive things, remain bitter, or can’t face the future is unhealthy. Looking back to pull a sweet memory forward and be nostalgic about it is good. I should do it more often.
For now: passing the basic recipe and process of Amish Friendship Bread along to you. (trust me, it’s kinder than me handing you a bag of starter that you have to make a decision about). 😁
Enjoy!
AMISH FRIENDSHIP BREAD STARTER
½ tsp active dry yeast
2 T warm water
1 T sugar
1 T vinegar
½ tsp salt
1 cup milk
Each Feeding : 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Place ingredients into a large bowl and stir until creamy. Place mixture in a gallon plastic bag or keep in bowl and cover with tea towel or plastic wrap..
Place mixture in a warm place to ferment. (If using a plastic bag be sure to let the air out of it as it ferments or it will pop)
You now have your starter- making bread is a 10 day process. Day 1, 2, 3, and 4 you will stir starter once each day (or mush it around in the bag). DO NOT USE METAL SPOONS OR BOWLS AT ANY POINT IN PROCESS.
Day 5 Feed Starter (1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk)
Day 6, 7, 8, 9 stir each day.
Day 10 Feed starter. Stir and put 1 cup of mixture in another container. This will be your starter that you keep going. Tomorrow the 10 days start over.
At this point you can split what is left up into one cup amounts and give to friends for them to have a starter or us all of it for yourself in recipes or a combination of using and giving.
If for whatever reason you forget to feed on a feeding day or can’t bake on baking day. This recipe is very forgiving. Just do it when you can.
TIME TO BAKE
The most basic and easiest thing to do with this starter is to make a sweet bread. There are recipes galore on PINTEREST and elsewhere on the internet.
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SWEET CINNAMON BREAD
2 cups starter
2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups flour
¼ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup milk
1 cup oil
Topping: 1 T cinnamon and ½ cup sugar
Preheat oven to 350
Mix all ingredients, except topping
Pour mixture into 2 greased loaf pans
Bake for 20 minutes, remove from oven, sprinkle topping generously onto the top of each loaf, continue baking 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from center of bread. Will be more cake-like than sandwich bread-like.
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