For the past three years,
my big holiday celebration has been a dinner for Boxing
Day. An English holiday, it falls on the 26th
of December, the day after all
of the American festivities have come to an end, leaving people generally available,
and only too happy to sit down, put their feet up, and enjoy a good meal. Children bring the toys that they received
from Santa, and play happily while the adults visit in a convivial atmosphere.
It’s a general rule in our family that any
party held three times becomes a tradition, so I suspect I’ll be having this
dinner for as long as I remain in an upright position, and that’s fine with
me. It’s also fine (and a bit
flattering), that a young member of the family chose Boxing Day as a holiday to
discuss in his first grade classroom, illustrating his talk (literally) with a picture that he had drawn
himself. Don’t ever think children aren’t
watching and emulating what we do!
It’s expected that
the meal will be roast beef, mashed potatoes, and green beans, so I always fix
these dishes so as not to disappoint. Sautéed
corn with bacon and scallions made a repeat appearance this year, but I mixed
things up a bit by making my own bread and rolls. Both recipes were new, and both a huge
success.
The first recipe I’m
going to tell you about is this one for Holiday Bread that was featured on the
Taste of Home website. I imagine that it’s
called Holiday Bread because it makes the entire house smell like
Thanksgiving. I don’t care for the
rather oddly shaped loaves that bread machines tend to yield, so I used the dough
setting, and then formed a loaf when the dough process had completed, put it
into a standard loaf pan, brushed it with an egg wash and sprinkled the top
with Kosher salt. It rose beautifully
and made one tasty bread. I didn’t have
quite enough poultry seasoning, but it was still delicious. I have already
decided that this is going to be the bread I use the next time I make dressing
to accompany a roast chicken or turkey. I can only imagine how wonderful it will be when used to make turkey or chicken sandwiches.
Holiday Bread
Adapted from a recipe by Tasteofhome.com
1-1/4 cups warm
water
1 egg
3 tablespoons dried minced onion
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1-1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
3-1/2 cups bread flour
2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
In the pan of your bread machine, place all ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select the dough setting, and allow the process to complete.
1 egg
3 tablespoons dried minced onion
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1-1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
3-1/2 cups bread flour
2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
In the pan of your bread machine, place all ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select the dough setting, and allow the process to complete.
When it has finished, remove the dough to a
lightly floured cutting board. Deflate,
and knead 5 times. Preheat with oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, form dough into a loaf and place
in a greased, standard-sized loaf pan.
Bake for 40 minutes until the top is golden brown and the loaf sounds
hollow when tapped.
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