Christmas Bread

Each year I make my bread. Each year I gripe about it. The bread is not hard to make, but it is rather labor intensive. It's an all day project.

I can't imagine Christmas without this bread, but I wish someone else could be the one to make it once in a while.


First the yeast has to rise.


Then you have to find a Christmas Elf who is in the midst of eating a donut to help you with this tradition.


Any day now with that donut Elf.


The dough before SEVEN cups of flour are added to it.


This spice is the reason this bread tastes so delicious. When Mrs. Fore taught me to make this bread, we used "real" seeds and ground them by hand! Yeah, I haven't done that in years!


I started adding in all the flour while Evan mixed it up with his hands.

At this point in the baking process, the dough goes into the oven for 90 minutes to rise. Evan and I ran to Costco to get gas, pick up some pictures, eat a quick pizza lunch and get the oil changed in the car. Then we ran home to do this...


The best part about making this bread is "punching" down the dough. Then it goes back into the oven for 45 minutes (at which point Evan and I ran to the Post Office, Target, and Bath and Body Works).


This is the sucky part. It takes a really long time to separate the dough into strands and braid them. I watched an episode of The Vampire Diaries while doing this. Then the braids themselves have to rise for 30 minutes. In this photo, the braids have already risen and have an egg wash.


Add a bit of cinnamon and sugar.


Bake until golden brown. Oh so delicious.