Thank You: The Last Supper

While I am not done with the thank-you posts (mainly waiting on recipes), tonight was our last meal from a friend, fittingly prepared by Mama Teacher, who organized the whole thing. She came over for a playdate, bringing her delicious winter vegetable soup as well as waffle makings for the kids. And she was game to try a new quick bread recipe with me to go with the soup.

After chatting for a bit, we got to work. Or, she did. We assembled the Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, though under duress I switched baking powder for soda (no worries, really, it came out well enough when I doubled the powder). It smelled great while we reheated her delicious soup and she got to work on waffles.

And then we chowed down. The kids inhaled the waffles, with each of them putting chocolate chips in each square. Bud then lathered his with strawberries and syrup. Mama Teacher and I started with hearty soup (realizing pureeing half of it would be an interesting idea for thickening it) and bread, which was good with butter. Then we had dessert waffles, just like the kids, except with whipped cream too.

Did I mention the bacon? The kids ate an entire package of bacon, though Mama Hungry arrived home in time to help polish it off. And soup and waffles too.

All in all, it was a delightful way to finish off our run of free meals and to celebrate my continuing recovery with a friend.

Thank you, Mama Teacher.

And we'll get your waffle iron back to you soon!

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Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread

Makes: 1 loaf

Time: About 1 1/4 hours, largely unattended

A super all-purpose bread that’s heartier and more flavorful than most, and relatively light for a 100 percent whole grain bread. It also makes excellent sandwiches, especially when toasted.

Oil or butter for the pan

1 2/3 cups buttermilk or yogurt or 1 1/2 cups milk and 2 tablespoons white vinegar (see Step 2) [I had buttermilk powder and water, which seemed to work just fine]

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup molasses

1. Heat the oven to 325°F. Grease an 8- × 4-inch or 9- × 5-inch loaf pan.

2. If you’re using buttermilk or yogurt, ignore this step. Otherwise, make soured milk: Warm the milk gently to take the chill off—1 minute in the microwave is sufficient—and add the vinegar. Let it rest while you prepare the other ingredients.

3. Mix together the dry ingredients. Stir the molasses into the buttermilk. Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients (just enough to combine), then pour into the loaf pan. Bake until firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.

Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything