Rye Bread

This one is Daddy approved! You would never catch my Dad eating rye bread - only white bread, that is, until Mother told him that it was good for him and that his daughter made it so he'd better try it. Try it he did and now both he and my brother await the arrival of the next loaf. Variations for sweetening can be achieved by substituting molasses or maple syrup for honey. If you wish to use brown/white sugar the measurement is 1/4 cup.

• 1-1/2 cups of water
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup lard
• 1-1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tsp yeast
• 3 cups white flour
• 3 cups dark rye flour
• 3 tbsp caraway seeds

1. Place lard, honey, salt, caraway and yeast in an automatic mixing bowl with a dough hook.
2. Fill a measuring cup with water and milk and heat in a microwave (2 minutes). The water should be warm but not boiling.
3. Pour into the mixing bowl and mix ingredients together for a few seconds.
4. Gradually add flour until dough forms a gooey ball. The dough should stick to your fingers.
5. Lightly coat a large bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in it. Lightly spray the top of the dough to keep it from drying out.
6. Cover bowl with a clean cloth and let rise at room temperature for one hour or until dough doubles in size.
7. Gently punch down the dough and divide into two equal parts with a knife.
8. Rest the dough for 5 minutes and prepare either two loaf pans or line a cookie sheet with parchment paper for Vienna or Cob shapes.
9. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently 6 to 8 turns. Do not over knead.
10. Form the dough into two elongated loaves (don't use pans). Spray tops, sprinkle one some extra caraway seeds and let rise for one hour more.
11. Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. The longer you bake, the drier the bread will be and the thicker/harder the crust.

Makes 2 loaves