16) Here's the recipe for my mom's poppyseed-yogurt bread. It's a yeasty, non-sweet, soft bread that is best fresh out of the oven with lots of butter. It's one of my favorite comfort foods.

I made it this morning, because I needed a bit of comforting after this last week-- I stayed up all night Thursday writing two papers for Friday, and now-- with my ever-present hyper-self-criticism, I am utterly convinced that the papers blow chunks. When will I learn that I always get this way just after I hand in a paper? And just after handing in two papers-- no wonder the self-criticism is so intense!

But anyway, the recipe. It's really quite good.

My Mom's Poppyseed Yogurt Bread

1/4 c. warm water (105-115 degrees F, use a food thermometer if you have one)
1 packet yeast (about 1 tablespoon)
1/4 c. sugar
1 tablespoon blue poppy seeds
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons margarine or butter, room temperature
1 egg
1 8-oz carton plain yogurt
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 c. flour

In a mixing bowl, proof the yeast in the water for a few minutes. Add the remaining ingredients except the flour, mix.

Add one cup of flour at a time, stirring after each. Use as much flour as is needed to form a stiff batter. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until nearly doubled (about 1 hour). Stir down.

Spoon (or just sling with your hands) into a greased pan (I usually use a round casserole, but today I used a Pyrex bread loaf pan). Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise again for about 40 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 35-40 minutes, or until loaf is browned on top and sounds hollow when tapped, and passes the toothpick test. Remove from oven, cool 20 minutes before slicing (if you can resist that long!).

(Note: I ran out of yogurt once and used sour cream, and while the final product lacked the yogurty tang I was used to, it browned a lot more and was quite good on its own terms.)