Courtney's Obsession

I love, love, love old cookbooks. There’s something about the nostalgia of it all that makes me all tingly inside. I don’t know when or why the obsession started, but lately, I’ve been raffling through my Nanny’s library of cookbooks. Here’s a picture of one of my favorites:

This particular one is called “Lake Cities Women’s Club” and was printed in 1978. It’s so special because my Nanny has marked her favorite recipes. To me, reading an old cookbook is like going back in time where food was simpler and in turn, more delicious.
From this book, I’ve recently tried the Sourdough Bread. This is not a recipe for those who don’t like to get their hands dirty. The dough is super sticky but certainly worth the inconvenience!

Sourdough Bread

Difficulty: Hard & Messy

Sourdough Culture:
½ cups sugar
1 cup water
1¼ cups flour

5 cups flour
½ cups milk
½ cups water
3 TBSP. sugar
¼ cups melted shortening
2½ tsp. salt
1 package yeast (0.25 oz. package)
½ cups warm water

To feed culture: Place ½ cups sugar, 1 cup water, and 1¼ cups flour in a large bowl, cover, and let sit on the cabinet for 24 hours.
To make sourdough bread: sift 5 cups of flour into another large bowl and make a well in the center. Scald ½ cups milk and ½ cups water (heat until almost boiling). Add 3 TBSP. sugar, ¼ cup melted shortening, and 2½ tsp. salt to scalded mixture. Stir until dissolved and let cool. Dissolve yeast in a small bowl with ½ cups warm water. Add dissolved yeast and 1½ cups of the sourdough culture to flour, then add the milk-water mixture. Stir with a fork then knead for 10-15 minutes. As Hannah from Little Women would say, let your bread “riz” or rise until it’s doubled in size. Work down and make into loaves or rolls. Let rise again until doubled in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.