Got some time on your hands? These two easy to make breads can fill the void. I first started baking breads when I was a young kid after my mother gave me a hard covered book titled “Baking Bread”. The book detailed how to bake a loaf of bread, from activating the yeast to finishing the loaf with butter to soften the crust. And for the years right up to high school I would bake a loaf every few weeks, I even had the recipe committed to memory. Then as I progressed in life very little to no baking that’s not to say I gave up cooking. I just didn’t bake; there was the exception when I made Bagels for Christmas gifts one year while living in Colorado they turned out far from perfect.
Then mid-way of the summer of 2013, Barry King a friend of mine who owns and captains the Camden Maine based windjammer Mary Day needed a cook. That summer instead of running dinner charters in Maine on Makana, as we left our boat in Florida, I was spending most of my free time riding my bike and working part time as a captain when jobs came along. I offered Barry my services and on Aug. 1st that summer I awoke aboard the Mary Day at 4:30 am to fire up the wood burning stove. Barry and the Mary Day were known for serving quality home cooked food with every meal containing; a protein, fruit or veggies, a starch and two separate types of baked goods. No popping out a tray of Crispy Creams for breakfast everything had to be home made using the wood burning stove.
My baking learning curve was straight up and rocket fast. Luckily there were several baking cook books which I pored over with the best being one from the The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook 
From sunrise to sunset I had a constant supply of yeast being proofed, dough rising and baked goods in the oven. Another one of the cook books I used that summer was “Ring That Bell” which was a collection of recipes from the late Mary Barney a longtime cook aboard the Mary Day. Two of my favorite bread recipes from Mary’s book were her Mashed Potato Bread and Cottage Cheese & Dill Bread. Aboard the Mary Day we had no real refrigerator just a huge 12 foot tall ice box so leftovers were typically used ASAP and what better way to use the leftover mashed potatoes than in bread. Potato Bread is very easy to make with the texture of the bread best described as silky.
Over the course of my time aboard I served close to 5,500 meals with most everything being homemade such as the Monkey Knuckles in the above photo. Cottage Cheese & Dill Bread is an easy to make bread that tastes great with a unique use of cottage cheese, enjoy.
Mashed Potato Bread
Prep time: 2 hours
Cook time: 45 mins
Total time: 2 hours 45 mins
Serves: 2 loves
Easy to make silky Potato Bread
Ingredients
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup boiling water
2 Tbs. butter
3 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. yeast
1/2 cup warm water
4 1/2 cups flour
Instructions
Proof yeast in warm water, add a pinch of sugar to help activate the yeast. Combine mashed potato and boiling water. Add butter, sugar and salt . Cool to lukewarm then add yeast. Add the flour gradually, using enough to make a soft silky dough and kneed for 10 minutes. Let rise, covered, in a buttered bowl until doubled. Punch down and shape into two loaves and let rise again until almost doubled. Bake at 375 F for about 45 minutes or internal temp of 180 F, enjoy.
Cottage Cheese & Dill Bread
Ingredients
1 ½ Tbs active dry yeast
1 cup cottage cheese
1 ½ cups warm water
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs dill
1 Tbs sugar
2 eggs
½ tsp salt
3 or so cups flour
Instructions
Activate yeast in ½ cup warm water with a pinch of sugar. Heat cottage cheese and butter, add sugar, dill, salt and 1 beaten egg. Remove from heat and let cool slightly then add yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time and knead for 10 min. Let rise until doubled in a bowl lined with Pam, butter or oil and cover with a towel. After doubling punch down the dough and divide in two. Roll out two loaves placing them in greased bread pans. Let dough double then bake at 375F for 35 min or until internal temperature is 180F (¾ of the way thru baking brush the tops of the loaves with egg whites for a golden top).