A Tasty Surprise

(First I have to say I apologize for the black & white photos. Fat fingers?)

There's a very old house at a T intersection on the way home from my longerarmer, Susie's house. I could drive right into the house if I missed the stop sign.

Every once in a while I see a sign outside that says "Bread" with a bunch of French flags. It is so inviting. I think about stopping to investigate, but I always seem to be in a rush. This week I picked up my quilts and as I drove by and saw the flags, I decided to stop. And I am so glad that I did.

I walked down a sweet little path and opened an old fashioned screen door and I was overcome with the aroma of baking bread. There was a table overflowing with long loaves of bread, rolls and brownies, along with a coffee can for payment. Had I stepped back in time or into a carb lovers fantasy?

There was a sweet lady mixing dough along with a commercial type oven. She was kind enough to tell me her story, that she probably has told hundreds of times before. She and her partner bought this 1800's house in the late nineties. They had corporate jobs, but loved to bake. One day they baked their standard bread recipe that yields 8 loaves. They only needed 3 and were heading out to visit friends. They took the remaining bread and placed them along side of the road with some red, white & blue ribbon and a can with a sign- Bread $3.00. Before they left, a car had stopped and left money for one loaf of bread. When they returned, all the loaves were gone. All of the money was in the can. This was the beginning.

As she told me the history, she continued to mix the bread dough. There is still the honor system with a coffee can.

These ladies love to bake, but if it is too hot or too cold or ?? whatever, there's no bread. When they sell out, they are done for the day and take down the flag and bread sign. At some point they purchased a refurbished oven and Hobart mixer.

Since I was a first time visitor, I was handed a "to go" roll. It is slathered with butter as soon as it comes out of the oven and is partially wrapped with aluminum foil. This roll is to eat on the way home, so you don't consume that yummy loaf you just bought. Mmmmmmmm, I can still taste it now.

I am so glad I made some time to smell the baked bread and here's the proof that I did not eat the bread on my way home!

 

 

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