Grandma’s homemade bread

I was making myself a sandwich and it got me thinking about bread. In particular, the bread Grandma baked when we visited recently- a country style fluffy white loaf. And thinking about that made me think about grandparents, and how special they are. I’m lucky to have such amazing grandparents. There are countless memories since I was young…

Grandpa making me pink milk by adding water to the powder. I’d beg him to draw a tree-house for all my imaginary characters- over and over and over. I’d make him watch Cinderella and Oliver too, over and over and over. I used to sit with him in the car when we visited India. Grandma and mum would do the shopping, and I’d chatter away, staring out of the window at the colourful world outside. Grandpa would watch cricket, some of my earliest memories are hovering nearby, trying to make sense of the game, waiting for the ducks to appear on the screen.

They’d push me on the swings, play ball, read me books. Grandma used to build a den for my stuffed animals, I’d write stories for her and do art projects. She’s saved them all, she’s still got them today. I’d help her cut vegetables, she’d tell me about saving water, not wasting food. We’d play Down by the bay where watermelons grow and sing songs.

We went to KL together, wandered through the science museum. Whilst the rest of us were scared out of our wits in the helicopter ride, grandpa fell asleep. We visited Mysore, explored the Bonsai garden, looked at the parrots. Grandma conquered Uber, we almost lost grandpa in the train station.

They’ve driven me to and from exams in that crazy Bangalore traffic. Bought me anything I asked for, and plenty I didn’t. Visiting them is always like coming home. IPL in the background, dishes clanging in the kitchen. Brand new toiletries in the bathroom, better than any hotel. Fresh cooked food, wifi codes, everything we could possibly need.

Last time we visited, I felt like time was ticking. We all went iPhone hunting, grandma and I went jewellery shopping.  We drove through the manic streets at dusk to watch a Christmas concert, did the groceries at More. I sat on the kitchen counter, and chatted, about teaching, about the future. We would all sit out on the patio, me on the swing, them on the rattan chairs as they day faded. Both on their iPads, I’d listen to the birds and feel content. But in the background, the old clock above the fridge, ticking.

Grandma is an amazingly good cook, and grandpa the (very lucky) chief taster. This recipe is just one of the many things she can make:

Ingredients for two loaves:

• 2 cups warm water
• two thirds of a cup white sugar
• 1.5 tsp salt
• quarter cup of oil
• 6 cups flour
• 1.5 tbsp dry yeast

To do:

• Dissolve the sugar in warm water- let it resemble a creamy foam.
• Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time.
• Let the dough sit for an hour or more (until its doubled).
• Punch the dough down and knead for a few minutes. Divide it into half.
• Shape it into loaves and place into two well-oiled 9X5 inch loaf pans. Leave it for half an hour or until the dough has risen one inch above the pans.
• Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees celsius) for half an hour.

Enjoy warm, and to quote a Malaysian bread company, its ‘so good you can even eat on its own’…

Enjoy the rest of the weekend xx

All photos my own and taken with an iPhone 8:)