Swirled Rye Bread

     Living in Central Louisiana is like being a participant in a culinary scavenger hunt.  I could not find rye flour or caraway seeds in Pineville.  You kinda need them if you want to make rye bread.  I was  able to find them over the river in Alexandria.  This made me think about the husband on the game show.  He was asked by the host, "What is your wife's favorite flower?"  The husband quite pleased with himself because he knew the answer said, "Gold Medal."  Sorry - sometimes I just can't help myself.
     Before I started my rye bread today, Wayne and I went in search of the ever elusive and exotic pastrami and corned beef.  We knew not to even try in Pineville, so across the river we went.  When we arrived at a large chain store we will call store "A" we were confident they would have at least one these delicious deli meats for my rye bread.  Alas, poor Teresa and Wayne, they left dejected and were off to large chain store "K."  We were delighted that they did indeed have both.  MMMM - we could envision sandwiches with warm from the oven rye bread, hot pastrami, hot corned beef, melted Swiss cheese, and creole mustard (none of that high brow Poupon for us).
     Once I started making my dough, I heeded the warning in the notes about not over kneading rye bread.  The doughs came out just as they should;  they were nice and elastic and not at all gummy.  (The recipe was in The Bread Baker's Apprentice.) Making the swirled dough was fun and truly easy.  I could hardly wait for the bread to come out the oven to see the swirls.  If you check out the picture you will see that the swirls are just as they should be.
     For our first Easter in Pineville I barbecued for family, and I wanted to make a nice dessert.  I don't remember what kind of cake it was, but I do know that I needed blackberry brandy.  I went to the grocery closest to our home and couldn't find the liquor aisle.  I asked the store manager where was the liquor, and he looked at me as if I were speaking a foreign language.  It was then that I found out Pineville is dry, and I would have to go to "Alec" if I needed any kind of alcohol.   Since then I've learned I need to go to Alec or go on-line and find a place to "send it to me" for many things.
     Enough whining.  We live outside of the Pineville city limits, and there are many wonderful things about where we live.  We can see thousands of stars and the milky way.  It is a great place to view meteor showers.  Wayne and I can go for our walk in the pre-dawn when the earth is still and all is quiet.  We can see the sun rise above the trees.  We can see the fog linger and soften all it surrounds.  We have seen deer in the road on the way to the store.  We have had bunnies in the backyard.  Our patio is a dangerous place.  If we go on the patio with our coffee, we enter a time warp.  We sit and listen to the birds and the stillness.  By the time we go back in the house 3 or 4 hours will have passed.  How can that be, we are sure we were only outside for a half hour or so.  The peacefulness of Pineville makes having to do the culinary hunt very worth while.