A chewy, nutty-tasting bun perfectly sturdy to hold your Thanksgiving leftovers sandwich creation
The craft of baking bread--of scalding the milk, mixing in the right amount of flour, kneading and shaping the dough--is like riding a bike. It is a memory in your muscles. It's tricky to learn at first, but once you get the hang of it by baking regularly, even if you haven't done it for a while, the memory comes back to your muscles. With the muscle memory of how to knead dough comes the mental memories of what else was going on in your life when you regularly made bread.
Last year my mom visited and shared how she makes Red River Buns--what our family likes to eat leftover turkey sandwiches on. [Or is it in?] It was a rare treat to see the memories of her life as a county extension agent in Minnesota come flowing out as her octogenarian hands kneaded the dough. Hesitantly at first, then with more surety and detail. Then mom reminded me where I get my frugal nature--she cut out the shapes for the buns using an empty tuna can [though since tuna can sizes have shrunk lately, along with most packaging, a larger tuna can would work better].
If you have an opportunity to bake with a loved one, especially something like bread which has spurts of activity followed by periods of inactivity to tea and conversation, please take the time to do so this holiday season.
