Tuesday, January 29, 2008

New Day #33

Of all the people I know, Cool Neighbor Brooke is the most skilled in the domestic arts. She wraps gifts using double sided tape and a ruler. Her Christmas card photo is always perfect without being annoying. Her cookies are all the same size. So I took her at her word when she brought me a baggie of beige goo and told me it was a starter kit for Amish Friendship Bread.
The way it works is you let the bag ferment on your counter for days, then divide it up for other friends, using some for yourself. Sort of like drugs.

"I know, I know," Brooke said, "it's the culinary equivalent of the chain letter. But the bread is amazing." Containing as it does that well-known Amish ingredient, vanilla instant pudding.

I couldn't think of anyone I wanted to give a bag of beige goo, so the starter dough ended with me. I decided instead to share the finished product with friends.More later on whether that happens.

6 comments:

Fran said...

Fermented Amish bread with instant vanilla pudding? It sounds yummy!

Anonymous said...

The results look delicious. What with your financial advise, and all else, you are fast becoming a Renaissance man. Have you tried vacuuming wit pearls yet?

Anonymous said...

I need to chime in here, freinds. While I do love my double-sided tape, I have never used a ruler to wrap a present. That is just plain scary.

I have some extra bread starter if anyone wants to try it.

Cool (if a little Type A) Neighbor Brooke

Jenna said...

You obviously had not yet tasted your bread when you suggested you would be giving loaves away to friends. Because CNB is spot on with the "amazing" comment. Yum!

Joyous said...

Hey, my dad had some beige goo on the counter in the kitchen when I went to visit him on Sunday. His little page of instructions checked off everyday he took care of it. I went over on Tuesday night and when he got home from work he was so excited to see the baggie all puffed up and fermented. He wanted to share the love, but I didn't have any of the ingrediants that you need to add and frankly didn't feel like buying them since I can't eat the bread itself - dieting. Does that make me not friendly to the Amish?

Anonymous said...

If there's a sudden run on vanilla pudding in the stores, you can instead use butterscotch pudding, which sounds even weirder but adds a mysteriously delectable element to the bread and may have people wondering "What IS that elusive flavor??"