Brown Bread

We've been in our home for around 6 months.
I thought it was time to meet the neighbors.
What better excuse to meet your neighbors than homemade bread, right?
So last week I made up little gift baskets with Strawberry freezer jam, cookies, and brown bread.
We packed up, bundled up, and headed out across the street in the bitter cold to *finally* introduce ourselves to our neighbors.

And a few days later, I got a phone call from one of our sweet neighbors.
She invited me over for coffee and you know what she wanted...she wanted to know about the bread. She said it reminded her of the bread that her New-England born mother used to make when she was a little girl.

She said she hadn't had that taste in 50 or 60 years.

She told me how her home was the original town hall. How the original structure was built in 1890. She told me how the low-income apartments at the end of the street used to be a boy's school run by the Catholic nuns. How the land where our home now stands used to be farm land where those boys and those nuns grew food for the local hospital.

She showed me her home, now covered in framed watercolors, and she told me how she only started painting once her husband passed away. She invited me into her life. Gave me an open invitation..."just walk across the street anytime."

I offered to give her a ride to the store anytime she needed. I offered her the recipe for the Brown Bread, which came from my husband's New England family. She smiled and said,

"forget the recipe, just keep bringing the bread over."

So here's the recipe, from my mother-in law, to your family.
And maybe it will give you an excuse to meet your neighbors too.

Brown Bread

• 3 C. boiling water
• 1 and 1/2 C. oatmeal
• 1 pkg. yeast
• 1/2 C. warm water
• 1 T. granulated sugar
• 1/2 C. butter-flavored Crisco
• 3/4 C. molasses
• 1 T. salt
• 5-6 C. flour, plus more for handling
• 1/4 C. melted butter.
  

In bowl, add boiling water to oatmeal and let set up. In mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and add sugar. Add shortening, molasses, and salt to yeast. Alternate adding flour (one cup at a time) and oatmeal. Mix well. Knead for 5 minutes.

Cover bowl with towel and let rise for one hour. Grease jelly roll pan. Form rolls and place in pan. Cover and let rise for another hour. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees until dark brown. Brush rolls with melted butter while still warm. Store in air-tight container.