Valerie is a 42-year-old, single, Reformed Christian lady who lives in Baltimore. She doesn't remember a time
before she knew and loved Jesus, but she does remember accepting John Calvin into her heart in March of 2000.
Valerie is a member of Christ Reformed Evangelical Church in Annapolis.
Though her career aspiration is to be a housewife, Valerie has not yet found anyone suitable who wishes to hire
her for employment in that field (or, more properly, anyone suitable has not found her), so in the meantime she
earns her daily bread working in communications -- editing, writing, print design and website management.
My Communion Bread Recipe
The choice of bread recipe in my congregation is left up to whomever is doing communion prep. Here's the one I've developed over the past couple years (dough made in a bread machine):
Smaller Loaf 1/2 cup water 3 Tbsp. light olive oil 2 large eggs (beaten) 1/3 cup honey 1 tsp. salt 3 cups bread flour 2 tsp. active dry yeast
Larger Loaf 3/4-1 scant cup water 5 Tbsp. light olive oil 3 large eggs (beaten) 1/2 cup honey 1 tsp. salt 5 cups bread flour 3 tsp. active dry yeast
Directions
Place ingredients in pan in order recommended by your manufacturer.
Run machine on dough setting. Scrape down sides early in the kneading process -- especially important if you're making the larger loaf. Watch the consistency, adding a little more liquid or a little more flour as necessary.
Shake dough out of bread pan into your hand. (You may want to flour your hands, as this dough is very sticky with all of that honey. If you can remove the handle from the pan, do so, as it tends to get in the way of the shaking-out process; it takes a little force to shake out the dough, so don't be afraid of being a little violent with it), pull out kneading blade as quickly as possible, and flip the dough over onto a greased and very well-floured baking sheet.
The dough blob should be fairly round, but you may need to reshape a bit. Just don't mess with it too much, or you'll knead all the air out of it. I usually cover it with a towel and let it rise for 20-30 minutes.
Score dough with very sharp knife or razor blade.
Bake at 350 degrees for ~25 minutes.
Hints
Since I don't like to get up before the crack of dawn, I find 7 p.m. on Saturday ideal for starting this recipe. Of course I usually end up not starting it 'til 9, and then I'm up 'til the wee hours and tired and cranky for worship the next morning. Be wiser than I am! ;-)
I find it best to start a little scant with the water, and then add more if the dough seems too dry.
Since I'm lazy and don't like to dirty extra dishes, I usually break my eggs right into the bread pan and beat them with a plastic fork (not metal...don't want to scratch the pan).
I highly recommend using a silicone baking sheet (on top of a regular one) because all the honey pretty much glues the bread to anything else! No need to flour or grease the silicone.
