Serena's Choice - Coastal Romance Series by Jennifer Ransom Read Free Book Online Page A

motioned to the oven in the corner when she
spoke. Brittany looked over at the oven.
    “ Is that what that is?” she
asked. “I didn’t know what that thing was.”
    “ It’s a bread oven. We used
to make our own breads here, and I want to start doing that again.”
    Brittany walked over to the oven
and stood in front of it, looking at it.
    “ I can tell it’s been a long
time since it’s been used,” she said.
    “ You’re right,” Serena
said. “It’s been way too long.”
    “ Are you sure it’s worth it?”
Brittany asked.
    “ Let’s find out,” Serena
said.
    For the remainder of the morning,
Brittany and Serena worked to clean the bread oven. Brittany didn’t
seem to be afraid of hard work. She put on rubber gloves and went to
work cleaning out the interior of the oven.
    “ This is a mess,” she said
more than once. But she kept going. Then she took some steel wool and
worked on the outside of the oven. When she was finished, the bread
oven looked, if not like new, then close to it.
    “ You did a good job, Brittany,”
Serena said.
    “ Thanks,” she said shyly.
    “ Would you like to help me make
the first bread that Rossetti’s has seen in a decade?”
    Brittany brightened up. “I’ve
never made bread before,” she said.
    “ That’s okay,” Serena
responded. “I’m going to teach you.”
    Serena got out the big bowl from
under a cabinet. She washed it out because it hadn’t been used in
ten years. She put it on the counter and motioned for Brittany to
stand beside her.
    “ This is yeast,” Serena said
to the girl as she poured it into the bowl. “It’s going to make
the bread rise and become bread.”
    “ But the yeast needs something
to feed on,” Serena continued. “It needs something sweet. So I’m
going to add some honey.” She squeezed honey into the bowl and
added warm water. She stirred it around and put a towel on top of the
bowl.
    “ We’ll let that sit for a few
minutes. Let it get good and yeasty.”
    Brittany followed every movement
that Serena made.
    “ That’s going to be bread?”
she asked.
    “ Yes.”
    A few minutes later, Serena
called Brittany back over to the big bowl. She showed her how to
measure the flour and told the girl to put it in the bowl. Serena
added salt.
    “ Now stand there and stir that
around for about five minutes,” she instructed the girl. Brittany
did as she was told.
    Serena had cleared a place on the
stainless steel counter and put flour down.
    “ Dump that out here,” she
told Brittany.
    “ Now you need to knead it,”
she said, laughing at her own joke. “Here, let me show you.”
Serena took the large ball of dough and placed it on the flour on the
counter. Serena began to knead the dough, pushing it with the heels
of her hand, then pulling it back with her fingers. Over and over,
she kneaded. The motions felt familiar and comforting.
    “ I can do it,” Brittany said.
So Serena turned it over to her. She watched the girl and saw that
she could do it. She was doing it just right.
    “ I think you’ve got a knack
for that, Brittany,” she said.
    Brittany smiled but continued to
concentrate on her kneading. After a few minutes, Serena said, “Now
it’s time to put it in a bowl and let it rise. We’ll get back to
it in an hour or so.”
    “ An hour?” Brittany said.
    “ Yes, an hour. Maybe two. It’s
got to double in size. That’s how you make bread.”
    “ You mean that’s going to
double in size?” Brittany said gesturing toward the bowl.
    “ Yep. You’ll see. While we
wait, let’s check on the salads and the house dressing.”
    Brittany followed Serena to the
refrigerated section of the kitchen.
    “ Check and see if we’ve got
house dressing,” Serena instructed her.
    Brittany opened the refrigerator
door and peered inside. She stood there a moment.
    “ What does it look like?”
Brittany asked.
    “ It should be in a big covered
bowl. Do you see that?”
    “ No.”
    “ Okay, then we’re making
house