After a couple of weeks working at the hotel, life settled into a pretty steady groove. Polly and Sheila were getting used to having someone else in their bed all night and sleeping well. Polly no longer had heart palpitations each morning when putting on her bra. Sheila had really started to believe that she was in love with both Pete and Polly. Rosie was still shaking her head and grinning at her two crazy friends and their antics. Russ and Rose smiled benevolently at the young people who were clearly blossoming as they performed magnificently in their jobs. The customers were smiling and those so inclined were exchanging puns and little jokes with the girls, never realizing that one of those girls was pretty new on the job in more ways than the obvious.

Life was about as idyllic as the tourist brochures made it out to be along the McKenzie River.

Refreshed after their day of recreation, all three girls polished off the morning's chores in record time. Arriving in the kitchen, Russ asked Polly "You ready to learn how to bake bread?"

"You bet, Russ!"

"Ah, my little tesoro, you'll make some man a fine wife some day."

"Uncle Russ," Rosemary asked with a grin, "you're third generation Italian-American and I know you don't even speak Italian other than some pretty good curse words. What's with the tesoro and all that crap?"

"Got to keep up the image, passerotto. The jolly innkeeper y'know."

"You old fraud! Next thing I know you're gonna be hanging a's on the end of all your words."

"That's-a not-a true-a, my-a little-a amore!"

"You're full of more hot air than your bread dough!"

"But when you poke-a my belly it doesn't-a deflate like bread dough. More's the pity."

"I'm outta here! He's all yours, Polly, and good luck with him!"

"I think he has a nice belly," Polly said as she patted it affectionately. "See? He's an old softie!"

"I've known that for years," offered Rose. "Let's leave these two to the flour and yeast, Sheila. Come and tell me all about what you girls did yesterday."

"No gossip in the kitchen. Here, put on this apron or you'll look like the Pillsbury Dough Girl before we're done. Let's start with the yeast, Polly my little stella."

"I may have to start poking your belly if you keep that up, Russ."

"Oh to be only twenty years older!"

"Huh? You want to be older?"

"Yes. An old man can get away with so much more with a beautiful young woman."

"You'd better have Rose drive you to an optometrist. If your eyes are that bad I wouldn't want you on the road by yourself. Besides, I've seen your van and it looks like you need a chauffeur."

"Hey, a deer here, a dog there. A dent here a ding there. Hazards of the road."

"And I'm not saying who's the hazard. Yeast?"

"Right. You've seen those little packages of yeast in the store?"

"Sure."

"Well, we don't use those little things. I'd go broke if I did. Each packet has two and one quarter teaspoons of yeast - and don't ask me where that measurement came from - so we buy yeast by the pound or even in five pound packages. A pound of yeast costs about six bucks wholesale and is equal to 160 teaspoons or about 71 packages. With all the bread I bake we need to buy in bulk.

"Baking good bread is a little art and a little science. These days everybody's heard of gluten, there's big business in gluten-free stuff, but gluten is what makes bread possible. I have some French friends who consider Americans completely crazy because of the gluten-free craze. Not that he doesn't consider Americans completely crazy for other reasons, but that's another story.

"Anyway, there are two proteins in wheat flour, glutenin, which creates elasticity and the chewiness, and gliaden, which creates extensibility, the protein's ability to stretch to achieve a higher rise. When you add water these two different proteins combine to make gluten, and that's what holds the bread together. The yeast makes little bubbles of carbon dioxide and the gluten holds the little bubbles in the dough, which makes the bread rise. Once the bread is baked the starch in it sets and you have a loaf of bread that won't crumble away.

"It gets even more complicated than that, because there are different kinds of flour. There's all-purpose flour for cakes and soft baked goods with about ten percent protein, bread flour with about twelve percent protein for soft breads and things like croissants and high-gluten flour with about fourteen percent protein for bagels and dense breads. The protein content is determined by the variety of wheat that is used, and that's a whole 'nother study. Confused yet?"

"So do you order your supplies from Fisher Scientific or the bakery supply?"

"Ah, you've been listening! The bakery supply, of course. Now, the four essentials for bread are flour, yeast, salt and water. You can get something edible with those basics, but there are other ingredients that make each thing you bake different. Oil makes the bread more tender, egg can make the bread more chewy and makes it rise higher. Milk makes the bread softer and the crust will brown more easily. I use half water and half buttermilk for my bread because it makes it taste like sourdough bread without all the hassle of keeping a sourdough culture alive. More salt slows down rising and makes the bread more dense, like in bagels.

"Go to a bookstore and you will find a dozen books about how to make the best bread and all of them will tell you something different. The best bread is a matter of taste - yours and the loaf."

Just then Russ' assistant chef came in.

"Hey Tony, meet our mystery baker for the afternoon."

"Jeez Russ, the only mystery is how fast your brain is shrinking. You think I wouldn't recognize Polly when she's in and out of the kitchen fifty times a night?"

"Should we be concerned, Tony? Just a few minutes ago he was having trouble with his eyes."

"Eyes I don't worry, he could bake bread blindfolded with one hand tied behind his back. Better write down your recipes so Polly can learn them before we put you in the home, Russ."

"I could burn water, Tony."

"Not when I get done with you, kid. Russ, you've just been declared redundant. Get thee to the office and start writing."

"I may forget how to write when it comes to you paycheck."

"It's electronically deposited, old buddy. No need to sign. Besides, that's Rose's department."

"See how hard it is to get good help these days, Polly. I'm glad I hired a girl as good as you are or I'd be out of business in a week."

"You were telling me how to bake bread, Russ?"

"Of course! Where were we?"

"I told you he was ready for the home. Memory care floor, I think." Tony commented as he entered the refrigerator for vegetables to turn into soup.

"The first thing we do is proof the yeast. It's always best to be sure your yeast is still alive before you start making the dough. Not that it's much of a concern with all the bread we bake here, but at home when you only bake bread every once and a while, proofing the yeast can save you a lot of unhappiness. We measure out the buttermilk and hot water, then take it's temperature. You want the liquid somewhere between 110° and 115°. If it's too cold, zap it in the microwave, too hot either wait or add a bit of ice. Then a bit of sugar or honey so the yeast has something to feed on and finally stir in the yeast with a whisk. In five or ten minutes the mixture should be frothing if the yeast is still alive.

"While you're waiting, measure out an equal amount of flour as your liquid and add the salt. Without salt the bread will taste flat and bland, it's really important. That and the amount of the salt affects how it rises. Then we measure out the oil. I have the recipe in my head so I don't have to look, but you will probably be using a written recipe, so have everything at the ready before you start.

"Traditionally, you mix everything up and when the dough starts to come together you knead it. That means you fold it over in half and use the heel of your hand to stretch the dough. Then you fold it again and stretch it again until it's smooth and elastic. Don't you love those clear, simple directions to tell you when you're done?"

"Elastic like a hair tie or elastic like a tire tube?"

"That's where the experience comes in. It always takes longer than you want to get to smooth and elastic. Usually ten or fifteen minutes will do it. As you can see, the amount of bread we bake, I'd have to hire the Jolly Green Giant to knead it all at one time, so let me introduce you to the bread baker's best friend. Now over here we have our industrial-scale bread kneading machine, which is going to become your best friend."

The machine was almost as tall as Polly and had an enormous bowl. It was also bolted securely to the floor of the kitchen.

"I'm not sure Sheila will approve of my throwing her over, Russ."

"You certainly don't want to do anything to alarm Sheila. She would have a hard time finding another woman like you. At least you won't be sharing your bed with the mixer."

Ohmygod! How much does he know?

"Russ!"

"You have a pretty blush, Polly."

"So I'm told. Can we stick to making bread?"

"The whole idea is not to have a sticky dough. See, the yeast is foaming and we know it's good, so we dump it all together and add the oil."

He did so, having Polly pour in the oil while he added the yeast mixture.

"Now turn it on and let it do all the work."

A cloud of flour erupted as the machine started, but it soon settled down. As Polly watched Russ judiciously added flour until the contents slowly changed from a sticky, gooey mess to an elastic ball that slapped rhythmically on the sides of the bowl.

"Here's where the art comes in," commented Russ. After a while you get to know when the balance of flour and liquid is just right by poking the dough. Every batch is different, the flour has more or less moisture, the buttermilk is a little thicker or thinner, the Bread Gods have a case of indigestion and want you to worship them with a little more water today."

Russ stopped the machine and poked the dough.

"No matter how tempting it is to just stick your hand in there to check, always stop the thing or you may have some blood and extra protein in your bread that you really don't want to add to the recipe! Poke it and see what it feels like."

"Squishy."

"Right. It needs a little bit more flour."

So saying he added about a cup more flour, a very tiny amount compared to the mass in the mixing bowl.

"Do it slowly or you can overdo it and then you have to add water."

A few minutes later he repeated the poke test and was satisfied. With no little effort he cranked the dough hook out of the bowl and put a cover over it.

"Now we leave it to rise for an hour or so and do other things like start on dessert for the evening meal."

"You want some help?"

"Why not? We have apple pan dowdy tonight, so there are lots of apples to peel."

As it turned out, Polly spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen with Russ. Sheila would poke her head in every once in a while, shake it knowingly, and retreat to the office where she continued to talk with Rose and Rosie. Once current events like just what Polly and Sheila had done on their day off had been discussed, the motherly Rose drew out the details of Sheila's life. Surprised to find Sheila was interested in accounting, talk turned to just how the finances of the hotel worked. It didn't take long for Little Rosie to lose interest, so she excused herself. Rose and Sheila spent a pleasant afternoon together as Rose related just how things worked and how things could go interestingly wrong.

The girls didn't know it then, but that afternoon was going to change their lives completely.
 

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The next chapter will post on Tuesday, No Internet available where I'm going.