For Starters

My Grandmother began making her own bread every week when I was really little. It was a recipe given to her by a friend that has now become something looked forward to by 2 generations of young people. My cousins and I called it "Grandmother Bread", the newest generation has deemed it "Gigi Bread".

She sent us home with one loaf when we left her house on the 28th of December. That night, when we got to NM, I put it in our little fridge and we ate it the next day for snack.

It traveled home with us. Half a loaf of the treasured bread. It is the kind of thing that is almost too good to eat, so I always have to throw the last bit out from sitting too long in the fridge.

I have asked my Grandmother before for her recipe, but the need for a starter and long travel time back home has prevented me from recreating her bread at home.

Yesterday, one of my most admired online friends led me to a website about creating my own start to the Gigi Bread tradition and I was ecstatic. With familial food feelings abounding, I decided to make my Mama's roast and called her for her recipe.

When I came out to the front of the house today while the boys all slept my house smelled exactly like my Grandmother's house does when we come to visit her. Smells of day long cooking and practiced recipes and warmth. It was shocking to me that I could recreated that smell.

I sat down with a cup of tea to look through my newest Paula Deen cookbook while my babies dozed. I adore Paula's cookbooks for very similar reasons as those smells I was conjuring in my kitchen. After many mouthwatering recipes I came upon one for the very kind of bread that my Grandmother bakes religiously. It is a recipe that's been passed down through the Deen family for generations.

Even though it's not the same as my Grandmother's bread, it is so close that it felt like a gift. And with my mind full of memories, I mopped up the last of my dinner, alone at my table, with a thick slice of the remaining Gigi bread. Now I know I can give my boys this gift even when my Grandmother is far far away.

Starter is a living thing. A life long commitment, if I want to make it. It's a fresh start.