Thursday, March 06, 2008

Reading for pleasure

I often wrestle with reading books for work versus reading books for me. Sometimes I resent books that I have to read for my book groups (whether it's for a group I facilitate or one I attend on my own time). It's bad, I know. It's closed minded and lazy. Then yesterday I read an article in the Horn Book about the new Children's Laureate of England, Michael Rosen. He's an advocate for reading for pleasure, something that's escaping the education and homes of children (and even adults for that matter). It's worldwide. The phrase "reading for pleasure" echoed in my head all day. It was like Michael Rosen was giving me permission to enjoy what I read. I admit that I sometimes do not read things I don't like, although I try reading them. It's like I'm a genre chauvinist. This also extends to my movie watching. I'm an adult though, I take responsibility for my choices. I admit when I don't read the books.

Yesterday I stopped by the bagel shop that is housed in the building that is for sale that I mentioned before. I had a good look around while waiting for my Anadama bagel. It struck me that it would be a great spot for a children's book shop. That's a market that's not currently flooded right now. And children's books are something I know a wee bit about.

Anadama Bread Recipe

Anadama is a traditional New England bread. I love it. It's very hearty, but a nice mix of sweet and savory.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup molasses
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
Place 1/2 cup water and cornmeal in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cook until mixture thickens; about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the butter or margarine and molasses. Let cool to lukewarm.

In a small mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Let sit until creamy; about 10 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooled cornmeal mixture with the yeast mixture; stir until well blended. Add 2 cups of the flour and the salt; mix well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.

Lightly oil a large mixing bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and put in a warm place to rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a loaf. Place the loaf in a lightly greased 9x5 inch loaf pan. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

From All Recipes

1 comment:

White Hot Magik said...

A book shop sounds so cool. I wish we had one here. There was a little one in Ruidoso when we lived there that I loved to go browse.