Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day. It is what (used to) get me out of bed every morning. (Now I have a little human alarm clock that doesn't have a snooze button). Often as I fall asleep the night before, I think about what I'm going to make for breakfast the next morning, along with how I will prepare my coffee (pour-over? drip? French press?).
I mean, think about it. You got your eggs. Creamy, yolk-y, salt and pepper. You got fruit, and sometimes veggies. You got my favorite grain, oats, in the form of warm, comforting oatmeal or snappy, crunchy granola. And, you got bread, in all of its various forms. Muffins. Scones. Pancakes. Biscuits. Toast. How could anyone not love breakfast?
Maybe I should re-title this blog to be "Becky Baker." This is the third post in a row that is baked. Baking is, after all, my life aspiration. Sure, I still cook most days. But baking is what really gets me motivated.
If you've tried making yeast bread before (or have been too scared by the idea) this is the easiest bread to make. One would think that, with such an easy bread, taste would be sacrificed, or texture, or something. No, friends, this bread is full of flavor, chewy, good as it is or toasted, pairs well with sweet jam or savory cheese, and is beautiful to behold. You can make it into a sandwich. You can top it with eggs. A smear of butter? Sprinkling of sea salt? Lovely.
One caveat: you need a cast iron dutch oven to bake it in. I have not tried to bake this without one, so I can't say if you would get good results. The dutch oven is pre-heated in the oven, which helps the bread to have a crisp, chewy crust. The bread is baked with the lid on for most of it, and then the lid is removed for the last ten minutes.
Don't make the mistake of taking the bread out too early because the crust is golden. I did once, and was sorely disappointed when, after letting it cool, I sliced it open and found a gummy interior. Sad. The crust will get very dark, even bordering on burnt in a few places. This will create a rich, chewy crust and an interior that is full of flavor and not dry.
This variation is from Mary Jane's Farm magazine, and the original is by Mark Bittman, but the original original no knead bread is by Jim Lahey. Credit duly noted. The dough is left at room temperature for 12-18 hours. I have left it for as long as 24 hours with no ill effects. You can probably leave it to rest for as little as 8 hours, but the flavor may not be as developed.
A word about flour. I use half whole wheat bread flour and half all purpose flour. I have also done it with half regular whole wheat flour and half white bread flour, and I have done it with half whole wheat bread flour, 1/6 spelt flour, and 1/3 white flour. The author recommends all whole wheat pastry flour. So basically, the sky is the limit. You have to use mostly wheat flour, though, for the gluten to develop. Using too much spelt, or too much low- or no-gluten flour won't result in the type of bread we're looking for here.
No-Knead Whole Grain Bread
From Mary Jane's Farm Magazine
Makes 1 large loaf
6 cups flour (see note above)
1/2 cup oats
2 tablespoons flax seeds or flax meal
1/4 cup quinoa (rinsed, if you want -- I never have)
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast (I have always just used 1 teaspoon active dry yeast, and it has turned out fine)
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
cornmeal for the Dutch oven
1) About 12-18 hours before you plan to bake the bread, mix together the above ingredients in a large bowl (minus the cornmeal). Add 3 cups of water and stir until blended. If there are a lot of dry ingredients left, add 1/4 cup increments of water (not exceeding 4 cups total). The dough will not be very wet, but should be shaggy. Don't worry about getting every last speck of flour wet.
2) Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 12-18 hours. The dough will not double in size, so don't worry if it doesn't look that much different than before.
3) Place a covered Dutch oven in a cold oven, and heat to 500 degrees. While oven and pot are heating, dump the dough onto a floured work surface. Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough, and fold over onto itself twice (as if you're folding a business letter). Don't deflate it, and don't overwork it. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest until the oven is ready.
4) When the oven is hot, carefully remove the Dutch oven. Remove the lid and sprinkle cornmeal on the bottom of the pot (it will smoke a little -- if you have a fan, turn it on). Scoop up the dough (I use a large spatula and a bench scraper) and plop it into the Dutch oven. Don't worry if it's not in a perfect boule shape; it will add to the rustic appearance. Place the lid on the Dutch oven and slide it back into the oven.
5) Bake for 35 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Don't be alarmed if the crust is already very dark when you remove the lid. If you take it out too early, the bread will be gummy (and then you'll be resigned to slicing it up and using it for toast to "finish" the baking). When the bread is finished baking, and the crust is very dark (bordering on burnt in some spots), remove from the Dutch oven and cool completely on a rack. Cooling the bread completely before slicing into it ensures the bread will not dry out inside.
A couple of additional notes...
- I usually bake two loaves (I'm blessed with two! Dutch ovens) and freeze one
- This bread freezes well, but I recommend slicing it in half and freezing half loaves. This way, you're not stuck with a whole loaf of bread that you can't consume within a few days
- If you eat it fresh, it will keep for about five days in an airtight container. I slice it up all at once, because I don't want to mess with a cutting board every morning. But, if you slice off a bit at a time, it will not dry out as quickly, and will keep for as long as a week.
- My two favorite ways to eat this bread are with butter, or with cheddar and eggs on top. My mother-in-law loves it with almond butter. Justin likes it with jam, or to dip in his soup. Anything goes!
I am sadden as I write this blog about one of the greatest Country Music singers of all time. Although, I am 28 years of age I grew-up on my parents music mama loved all the old country singer and classic rock, my daddy loved Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, classic rock, but also he was raised up and played bluegrass music as a boy growing up in Georgia. Daddy taught me to play about anything with strings I was taught to play the guitar at age six, the song was "The House of the Rising Sun" daddy said if I could master that song I could play anything. That is not a easy song to play for a beginner much less a six year old. But, so I didn't disappoint daddy I practiced it every day and for a six year old a month felt like a year. One Sunday after returning from church we had family and friends over for dinner and afterwards we would all go out on the porch of the farm house where I grew-up. Most everyone on my daddy's side of the family could at least play guitar, and mama's daddy was a Pentecostal Preacher so she grew-up playing the piano in church. I remember having all these musicians watching me and I prayed my little six year old prayer "Dear God please let me do good on this song because I don't want daddy to be sad when all my family realizes I can't play like them. We started playing together and daddy was singing, but by the time we started the second chorus I was really getting into the song and singing with daddy. I surprised everyone even myself. Then I started playing all the time and learning new songs. One day my mama said, Amber now play me some country music I said I don't really know how. She said, I think if I play a song you can learn it. I waited as she set up the stereo then the music started and it was ( The Cold Hard Truth) by George Jones. I picked and sang with him not a good job at first but I learned all George's songs and became a fan of George Jones fan by the time I was six years old. I have been to three George Jones concert's and he was so down to earth and I have his autographs and a couple of tee shirts to small to wear now, I loved the Possum and I was so heart broken to learn of his death after I came to in the hospital after having surgery.
George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including "White Lightning", as well as his distinctive voice and phrasing. For the last 20 years of his life, Jones was frequently referred to as the greatest living country singer.[2][3] Country music scholar Bill C. Malone writes, "For the two or three minutes consumed by a song, Jones immerses himself so completely in its lyrics, and in the mood it conveys, that the listener can scarcely avoid becoming similarly involved." Waylon Jennings expressed a common jealousy in his song "It's Alright": "If we all could sound like we wanted to, we'd all sound like George Jones." The shape of his nose and facial features gave Jones the nickname "The Possum." Jones said in an interview that he chose to tour only about 60 dates a year.
Born in Texas, Jones first heard country music when he was seven and was given a guitar at the age of nine. He married his first wife Dorothy Bonvillion in 1950, but ended in divorce in 1951. He was enlisted in the United States Marine Corps until his discharge in 1953. He later married Shirley Ann Corley in 1954. In 1959, Jones released a cover version of "White Lightning" by J. P. Richardson, which launched his career as a singer. During his marriage to Shirley, Jones' alcoholism compromised his health and his marriage ended in divorce in 1968. The following year, he married fellow country music singer Tammy Wynette. His wild lifestyle led to Jones missing many performances, earning him the nickname "No Show Jones."[1] After his divorce from Wynette in 1975, Jones married his fourth wife, Nancy Sepulvado, in 1983 and Jones became mostly sober. Jones died in 2013, aged 81, from hypoxic respiratory failure. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery. During his life, Jones had more than 150 hits during his career, both as a solo artist and in duets with other artists.
Early life
George Glenn Jones was born on September 12, 1931 in Saratoga, Texas, and was raised in Vidor, Texas, with his brother and five sisters. His father, George Washington Jones, worked in a shipyard and played harmonica and guitar while his mother, Clara, played piano in the Pentecostal Church on Sundays. (Wow Small World) During his delivery, one of the doctors dropped Jones and broke his arm. When he was seven, his parents bought a radio and he heard country music for the first time. Given a guitar when he was nine, Jones was soon busking for money on the streets of Beaumont.
He left home at 16 and went to Jasper, Texas, where he sang and played on the KTXJ radio station with fellow musician Dalton Henderson. From there, he worked at the KRIC radio station. During one such afternoon show, Jones met his idol, Hank Williams. He married his first wife Dorothy when he was 19, but they divorced within a year. The Korean War was underway, and he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He was stationed in San Jose, California for his entire service. Not long after his discharge in 1953, his music career took off.
Wild years
Jones's identity was closely tied to his alcoholism. One of the best known stories of Jones' drinking days happened when he was married to his second wife, Shirley Corley. Jones recalled Shirley making it physically impossible for him to travel to Beaumont, located 8 miles away, and buy liquor. Because Jones would not walk that far, she would hide the keys to each of their cars they owned before leaving. She did not, however, hide the keys to the lawn mower. Jones recollects being upset at not being able to find any keys before looking out the window and at a light that shone over their property. He then described his thoughts, saying: "There, gleaming in the glow, was that ten-horsepower rotary engine under a seat. A key glistening in the ignition. I imagine the top speed for that old mower was five miles per hour. It might have taken an hour and a half or more for me to get to the liquor store, but get there I did."
George and Tammy
In her 1979 autobiography, former wife Tammy Wynette recalled waking at 1 AM to find her husband gone: "I got into the car and drove to the nearest bar 10 miles away. When I pulled into the parking lot there sat our rider-mower right by the entrance. He'd driven that mower right down a main highway. He looked up and saw me and said, ‘Well, fellas, here she is now. My little wife, I told you she'd come after me.’
Jones later jokingly sang of the lawn mower incident in his 1996 single "Honky Tonk Song", and parodied his arrest in the music video.
In the 1970s, a manager introduced Jones to cocaine before a show, because he was too tired to perform. His self-destructive behavior brought him close to death and he was in an Alabama psychiatric hospital by the end of the decade. Celebrated by some of his fans as the hard-drinkin', fast-livin' spiritual-son of his idol, Hank Williams, Jones missed so many engagements that he gained the nickname of "No-Show Jones" — the song "No-Show Jones" makes fun of Jones and other country singers. He was often penniless and admits that Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash came to his financial aid during this time.Poking fun at his past, three country music videos would feature Jones arriving on a riding lawn mower. The first was Hank Williams, Jr.’s "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" in 1984 while the second was Vince Gill’s "One More Last Chance" in 1993. Gill's song mentioned the mower with the lines "She might have took my car keys, but she forgot about my old John Deere." At the end of Gill's video, he is leaving the golf course on a John Deere tractor and greets Jones with "Hey, possum." Jones, arriving at the golf course driving a John Deere riding lawn mower with a set of golf clubs mounted behind him, replies to Gill "Hey, sweet pea." The third is John Rich's "Country Done Come to Town" and shows George mowing grass on the rooftop on a zero turn mower. It was also the inspiration behind Hank Williams Jr's "Now I think I know how George feels" from William's 1983 album release Man of Steel.
The Jones Boys band
Jones worked with many musicians who have found success in Nashville as session players and singers. These include Dan Schafer, Hank Singer, Johnny Paycheck, Brittany Allyn, Sonny Curtis, Ron Gaddis, Kent Goodson, Bobby Birkhead, and Steve Hinson.
Marriages
Jones was married twice before he was 24. While his 1950 marriage to Dorothy Bonvillion only lasted a year, the couple had a daughter, Susan. In 1954, Jones married Shirley Ann Corley. This marriage lasted until 1968 and produced two sons, Jeffrey and Bryan. He married Tammy Wynette in 1969. They stayed married for six years and had a daughter, Tamala Georgette. As Georgette Jones, she is a country singer and has performed on stage with her father. Jones married his final wife, Nancy Sepulvado, on March 4, 1983 in Woodville, Texas. Nancy, who went on to become his manager, is credited by Jones for rescuing him from drinking and cocaine. They had lived in Franklin, Tennessee.
Jones continued to record and tour throughout the 1990s despite no longer being a presence on modern country radio. He was very vocal in his later years about his disappointment for the direction country music has taken in the last two decades. In his autobiography, Jones devoted a full chapter to the changes in the country music scene of the 1990s that saw him removed from radio playlists in favor of a younger generation of pop-influenced country stars. Despite his absence from the country charts during this time, latter-day country superstars such as Garth Brooks, Randy Travis, Alan Jackson, and many others often paid tribute to Jones while expressing their love and respect for his legacy as a true country legend who paved the way for their own success.
On February 17, 1998, The Nashville Network premiered a group of television specials called The George Jones Show, with Jones as host. On March 6, 1999, Jones was involved in an accident when he crashed his sport utility vehicle near his home, puncturing his lung and causing lacerations to his liver. He was rushed to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he was released two weeks later. In May of that year, Jones pleaded guilty to drunk driving charges related to the accident. A duet by Jones and Tracy Lawrence was released in September 2008. The song, "Battle Scars", was on a various artists CD named Never Forget. An album titled "Hits I Missed And One I Didn't", in which he covered prior hits from other artists as well as a remake of his own "He Stopped Loving Her Today", would be released as his final studio album.
George And Tammy
On March 29, 2012, Jones was hospitalized with an upper respiratory infection. Months later, on May 21, Jones was hospitalized again for his infection and was released five days later. On August 14, 2012, Jones announced his farewell tour, the Grand Tour, with scheduled stops at 60 cities. On November 12, 2012, Jones was scheduled to perform his final concert at the Bridgestone Arena on November 22, 2013. However, on April 18, 2013, Jones was hospitalized for a slight fever and irregular blood pressure. His concerts in Alabama and Salem were postponed as a result.
Death and funeral
Jones died on April 26, 2013, aged 81, from hypoxic respiratory failure at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
Laura Bush, wife of former president George W. Bush, was among those eulogizing Jones at his funeral on May 2, 2013. Other speakers were Tennessee governor Bill Haslam, news personality Bob Schieffer, and country singers Barbara Mandrell and Kenny Chesney. Alan Jackson, Kid Rock, Ronnie Milsap, Vince Gill, Patty Loveless, Travis Tritt, The Oak Ridge Boys, Charlie Daniels, Randy Travis, Wynonna and Brad Paisley provided musical tributes The service was broadcast live on CMT, GAC, RFD-TV, The Nashville Network and Family Net as well as Nashville stations. SiriusXM and WSM 650AM, home of the Grand Ole Opry, broadcast the event on the radio.
The family has asked that contributions be made to the Grand Ole Opry Trust Fund or to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Awards and honors
For a list of awards and accomplishments, see List of George Jones awards.
Jones received many honors during his long career, from Most Promising New Country Vocalist in 1956, being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992, and being named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2008. In 2012, he was presented with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award. At the ceremony his longtime friend Merle Haggard paid tribute to him.
He served as judge in 2008 for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.
Jones was a member of the Grand Ole Opry from 1956 until his death.
Number one country hits
"White Lightning" (1959)
"Tender Years" (1961)
"She Thinks I Still Care" (1962)
"Walk Through This World with Me" (1967)
"We're Gonna Hold On" (with Tammy Wynette) (1973)
"The Grand Tour" (1974)
"The Door" (1975)
"Golden Ring" (with Tammy Wynette) (1976)
"Near You" (with Tammy Wynette) (1977)
"He Stopped Loving Her Today" (1980)
"I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool" (with Barbara Mandrell) (1981)
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