Pecan Bread.....

Louis Dean made some tasty Pecan Bread recently.....and it is delicious! He was a baker for Mrs. Baird's, Rainbow, Wonder Bread Bakery as well as Safeway. This came after he was a baker in the army. He LOVES to bake! And he manages to do it every chance he gets.....even though he has heart disease and is not supposed to eat many carbs. Every time I leave town for any reason....he heads straight to the kitchen!

One time my sisters, Mother and I drove to Alabama. He made
300 cinnamon rolls for a fundraiser at Home Depot! It took me
4 HOURS! to clean the kitchen. Have you figured out he is not a neat and tidy kind of guy?

Last weekend I was gone so he did as many things as possible he had been itching to get at! Like taking the camper shell off his truck....getting a load of sandy loam soil.....unloading it (but NOT spreading it out smooth in the areas he dumped it!) and putting the camper shell back on! I asked him when he levels off the piles of dirt around the place if he could smooth the ones where his wheel barrow tipped over and the dirt is still as it was (months later) where it fell out!

He also BAKED BREAD! I usually stop at the Collin Street Bakery when I am on I45 and buy Pecan Bread. He has been boasting he could make it better. He may well have. He certainly made it BIGGER!
I have several loaves in the freezer! AND I did not discover that he had been baking until the day after I returned home. He is learning to clean up pretty well when he is wanting to hide the evidence! I found one small piece of dough stuck to the mixer cord when I pulled it out to clean the counter. Not bad at all!!

Pecan Bread

2 1/4 tsp. yeast

1/4 c. warm water

1 c. milk

1/4 c. sugar

2 T shortening

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp salt

3 c. flour plus 1 more cup

1 c. pecans, chopped fine

Put yeast in warm water. Let stand. Put milk, sugar, and shortening in a pan and heat until melted.

Cool. Pour into beaten egg plus the salt. Add the yeast and mix all.

Sift flour. Add the above mixture and beat hard. Add nuts and the extra cup of flour.

Mix well and let rise. Put into 2 bread pans and let rise again.

Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Now neither the bread or the load of dirt was on his 'Honey Do' List.....

But last night we enjoyed eating some as we sat out in the gazebo with our fire going!

He has been back to work on the bathroom since I got home and I hope to report soon..

like BEFORE Easter!! that it is a done deal.

Life is always an adventure with Louis Dean.....and I love it!