100 Day Project - Day 5 "Grandma's Bread"

As kids, whenever we went to my Italian grandparents’ house, they sent us home with a care package full of goodies...  lentil soup, fish that my great uncle had caught and my grandmother had filleted and frozen, and since we were a household with 5 women, coupons for Stayfree maxipads.  We girls didn’t care about any of that.  What we were most excited about, was the loaf of Grandma’s Bread.  

Grandma’s bread was a sweat, yellow loaf sprinkled lightly with raisins and candied citron, and the folding and turning of the kneeding process created a sort of whirled texture that you were able to peel off to eat.  It was buttery, yet light and airy, and when we arrived home from Grandma’s, we’d toast a few slices for a late evening snack.  I’d butter my slices liberally, then peel off the layers, eating them with a cup of tea, or a mug of hot cocoa.  

After my grandparents passed away, I searched for this recipe but I had no idea what I was looking for - I guess I expected to see a recipe in her cookbook entitled “Grandma’s Bread” but of course I didn’t.  Just this past Christmas, while perusing photocopies my mom had made of my grandmother’s recipes, I came to a realization...  The recipe I had been searching for was right there all along - the mysterious bread was an Italian panettone. It had the two types of raisins, the candied citron, and lots of egg yolks for the yellow color.  I’m no longer intimidated by bread recipes, so I’m giving it a try, and success or failure, I will toast and eat a slice in her honor when it’s done.