Friendship Bread from Mom.

TGIF baby!  Long Presidents’ Day weekend…here I come! 

I am so excited this morning because I am looking ahead to the long, three- day vacation ahead of me since there is "No School"on Monday.

Did you ever hear of Friendship Bread?  The other day my mom gave me a little experiment to try.  It is a baggie filled with 1½ cups of fermented bread batter from a previous batch and it keeps getting passed from friend to friend.  See the photo…I love how my mom wrote the dates next to the instructions so I would’t forget.  She is so organized…Go mom! 

Basically, you keep this batter for ten days.  On day six, you need to add a cup of sugar, flour and milk and everyday, the bag must be kneaded.  On day ten, the batter is ready to make the bread.  My mom sent me a text on day six to remind me to add the three ingredients.  Plus, she sent me another one last night that said, "Don't forget to mush!"  She’s always on the ball.

So two nights ago I added the flour, sugar and milk, even though I was supposed to add them the night before (having no milk was my issue).  I am fairly certain that this mishap won’t make a difference in the final result. 

On day ten, I will be measuring out four – 1 ½ cup baggies filled with batter to pass on to four friends.  The rest of the batter gets used for the recipe. 

Since I will be making this bread in a few days and I will be sure to let you know how it turns out.  Apparently, only the Indians know how to create the “starter” bag, so if this batter “chain” stops, I will have to wait until someone gives me another bag.  In addition, extras can be added to this bread such as nuts, raisins, apples, cinnamon, chocolate, etc.  Hmmm, I’ll have a few decisions to make…

On another note, yesterday I ran my weekly long run since Sunday is reserved for speed work.  Eight miles chock full of dreary weather and rain.  Yuck.  But, I got through it in just under eight-minute mile pace to finish in 1:03. 

And of course, stretching always follows my runs...so here I am lengthening my muscles and working out the kinks in my IT band. 

Finally, last night I made a side dish using farro, a healthy grain that was one of the first crops to be grown in the Mediterranean and  Near Eastern regions. More on that recipe this weekend...

I hope you enjoy your Friday!

Tracy