Rosemary Bread

Rosemary is pleasingly fragrant and is known as the herb of friendship and remembrance. It is also considered to be the herb of Christmas, weddings and funerals. Whatever the occasion, the aroma brightens the spirit and ensures happy warm smiles around the table. Smother a warm slice with whipped butter and chopped rosemary.

• 1-1/2 cups of water
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup quick oats
• 1/4 cup lard
• 2 tbsp dried or fresh rosemary
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp white sugar
• 1-1/2 Tsp salt
• 3 Tsp dry yeast
• 6-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1. Place lard, honey, sugar, oats, salt, rosemary and yeast in an automatic mixing bowl with a dough hook.
2. Fill a measuring cup with water and milk and heat in a microwave (2 minutes). The water should be warm but not boiling.
3. Pour into the mixing bowl and mix ingredients together for a few seconds.
4. Gradually add flour until dough forms a gooey ball. The dough should stick to your fingers.
5. Lightly coat a large bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in it. Lightly spray the top of the dough to keep it from drying out.
6. Cover bowl with a clean cloth and let rise at room temperature for one hour or until dough doubles in size.
7. Gently punch down the dough and divide into two equal parts with a knife.
8. Rest the dough for 5 minutes and prepare either two loaf pans or line a cookie sheet with parchment paper for Vienna or Cob shapes.
9. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently 6 to 8 turns. Do not over knead.
10. Form the dough into two loaves, spray tops and let rise for one hour more.
11. Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. The longer you bake, the drier the bread will be and the thicker/harder the crust.
12. Flip bread out of pans onto cooling racks immediately after baking to ensure that the bread doesn't sweat in the pans.

Makes 2 loaves