Celebration Breads: Recipes, Tales, and Traditions

With recipes for more than 75 savory and sweet breads, Oppenneer's book offers home bakers accessible, homey recipes with wonderful histories about the celebrations associated with each entry. The author, a culinary teacher and consultant, lists the basics, such as ingredients, equipment and the steps to making bread (whether by hand, heavy-duty mixer, food processor or bread machine). From there, she organizes her book according to geographic region (Africa, The Americas, British Isles, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, etc.). Her choices sometimes surprise: under Morocco, she places the Yom Kippur celebratory dish, Sephardi Bread, which is filled with a mixture of coriander seeds and almonds; the holiday is celebrated in Canada with Montreal Bagels. For a wedding celebration, Oppenneer recommends Irish Soda Bread (""bread was broken over the bride as she entered her new home and became the woman of the house""). From Norway for Christmas comes Julekake, made with cherries and almonds and served with brown goat cheese. This solid book's stories are as warm and pleasing as fresh-baked bread.