Sometimes I’m like an old dog with a bone. I thought for sure I could just look up salt rising bread and make it. Again and again I tried, using different recipes for all three stages.
This was supposed to be the happy ending story to the SRB saga. Alas, it was not to be. The third batch of starter made with potatoes started up well enough. The sponge made with it bubbled and fermented fine. The bread dough made with the sponge was beautiful. Placed in the pans, put in the lightbulb-warmed oven, it did nothing. Somewhere between the dough kneading and the panning up, the whole mass lost all get up and go.
Then life happens and all thoughts of SRB were put on the back burner as tomatoes, peppers and corn were put by for the winter. By the time all that was done, a few days rest was in order. But in the back of my mind I kept working with that salt rising bread until I was baking it in my dreams and more than once thought I smelled moldy cheese in the middle of the night.
Even as I write this, a week later, there is a jar of starter bubbling, hidden away in the depths of the oven. Local residents here at the Moore homestead are tired of seeing and smelling and hearing about it. So, I try and take care to hide all evidence that the SRB experiments are ongoing. Someday I know it will all work out. When it does, Mr. and Mrs. Brown of Enon will receive a loaf of pungent, tasty salt rising bread from this writer/baker/old dog. To quote a newspaper article of 1917: “Salt Rising Bread is a more detailed and a more particular piece of work than ‘hop yeast’ bread.”
In the meantime, here are a couple of recipes mentioned in Enon Farmers Market Report, published each week in the Enon Eagle. Enjoy the cooler air and end-of-summer crops. Take a little time to reflect on all the blessings of this day, from dawn to dusk. It will still be a happy ending.
Tomato/Apple Jam
- 1 lemon
- 2 cups tomatoes, peeled, seeded
- 2 cups diced apples, peeled, cored
- 3 cups sugar
Mixed Pepper Skillet
- Farm market assortment of peppers
- (red, yellow, green, sweet, hot)
- 1 medium sweet onion
- 1 clove garlic
- Butter
- Choose your favorite peppers at your local farmer market. Wash, remove seeds, slice or chop.
Market Skillet
- 1 favorite pepper
- 2 ears of fresh sweet corn
- 1 medium tomato
- 2 green onions
- Butter
- Favorite fresh herbs such as parsley, oregano, basil
Anything Goes Spaghetti Squash
- 1 fresh spaghetti squash
- Favorite spaghetti sauce
- Butter and favorite herbs
Contact Connie at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Box 61, Medway, OH 45341