I used To think I liked Baking...

I made the "Amish Friendship Bread" last night.

I'm not sure how I feel about it.

I want to say that the recipe is a cute idea and how tasty the bread turned out to be and how glad I am to have participated...however -

- it took a lot of work and A LOT of ingredients (I think I lost close to 6 cups of flour and just as much sugar to that "bread" - that's an absurd amount of flour and sugar to lose to ONE baking affair!) And it's not bread at all - it's more like cake. And when I say "more like cake" what I really mean is "it is cake". I admit I'm a little disappointed with the cake, too, because I could have had a cake that tastes just as good and would have cost me less in ingredients, time and energy by using an instant cake mix from Betty Crocker.

So that's a bit, you know...frustrating.

And my escapades with the "Friendship Bread" are still not over: I now have 4 (four!) ziploc bags of fermenting gook on my counter that, according to the recipe, I'm supposed to give to four of my friends.

I'm not sure how I feel about this, either.

On the one hand:
I should end this crazy "Friendship Bread" chain and save my friends from hours of slaving over sticky, smelly dough while sacrificing copious amounts of basic food staples to what is, ultimately, nothing more than a culinary disappointment.

On the other hand:
Maybe I know some people whose definition of "fun" is to slave for hours over sticky, smelly dough. Maybe I know people who would actually love this bread/cake stuff. Maybe I should pass the dough along and let my friends and neighbors decide for themselves.

So if you're reading this, and you're interested in one of my ziploc bags of slimy gook, let me know. You are more than welcome to take it.

someone Should have googled "Amish" Before printing...

A co-worker offered me a bag of "Amish Friendship Bread" dough today. I was touched by her offer, and gladly accepted the bag of gooky (and questionably odorous) contents.

The dough takes 10 days to bake, nine of those days being spent adding certain ingredients on certain days and allowing the dough to sit, undisturbed and without air, for the rest of the time. On the tenth day you add the last of the ingredients, separate the dough into four parts, and bake one of the parts for yourself. The other three parts go to friends, with a copy of the recipe, and so the "friendship" bread continues.

Cute idea.

Here is a quote from the recipe:

"This bread is very delicious and makes a great gift. Only the Amish know how to create a "starter" so if you give them all away, you will have to wait until someone gives you a new starter to bake more yummy bread."

Cute.

But wait a second...

...one of the ingredients is "1 large box instant vanilla pudding mix."

The Amish came up with this recipe? Really?

I'm not claiming to be an expert on Amish culture, but I can't help having some doubts concerning the origin of this particular recipe.



(Completely unrelated note that I cannot resist divulging: Stargate-SG1, season 3 episode 16, "Urgo." Dom DeLouise. Hilarious. Your quality of life will significantly increase within the hour it will take you to watch this episode - you need to watch it and hulu.com has it. Go!)