The Wine Tasting That Became My Banquet

I love when things come together. They are little coincidences. In my head I see them as atoms and when they collide, they become molecules...or maybe, just something bigger. They aren't really big things. Nothing like discovering penicillin, but more like when your first angel food cake finally turns out right or the first time you make a loaf of bread that is nothing short of wow. The relationship just seems to fit together like a recipe or a puzzle.

When I received the invitation for the cyber banquet I also received an invitation by an acquaintance for food and wine at the appointed time. It was really a wine tasting with food, but we didn't want to decline. So, it became the banquet. At the same time, I also received a starter for Amish Friendship Bread. Since it appeared that the food end of things was completely covered, I didn't make the bread for the banquet. But I did do a lot of searching on the internet about it and somehow I feel that that story makes sense in this context.

I had never heard of Amish Friendship Bread, so when I got a starter from a friend I looked at the recipe and declared "there's enough leavening in here to make this, so what does the starter do?" And off I went to the internet to learn about the history of this bread.

Amish Friendship Bread is not Amish, nor is it what I would consider real bread. The starter is yeast based and is fed with enough milk, sugar and flour, so that every 10 days, the owner shares it with 3 friends. One person commented that it was a chain letter of sorts. Another person said that they made the bread recipe with and without the starter and the breads tasted the same. So, ultimately, it all seems to be about sharing with friends. And this blog and project is about sharing and friends.

Here are photos from the gathering hosted by Dan and Laurie Crooke who live 20 or so miles east of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Laurie's Soup Story

Jeremy's Bread Starter Story