Dear Readers,

We lost another chicken this past Sunday while we were at church. I’m starting to think the crow is the devil and he knows it is Sunday. RIP Domino, White Leghorn, February 2020 flock, Gone too soon: June 5, 2022 . TJ somehow found more ways to secure the run on Sunday afternoon, and as of this writing, there are still five alive.

Sunday was also the day of our church’s lake baptism and BBQ, which is always a fun day for us to have the opportunity to host at the lake each summer. The church caters the BBQ, baked beans, and slaw, and everyone is asked to bring side items. Multiple people showed up to the table this year with loaves of stecca bread from the Swamp Rabbit Café. I’m not sure how these people thought the bread would be distributed to the crowd. Would people break off their own pieces, like might happen at the Eucharist if we started with a full loaf and passed it around to literally “break bread” off the loaf? Or would a few lucky people have the privilege of a full loaf each (Bauer could easily eat one!)?

Rather, what happened is my friend Smyth and I went in the house and she helped out by cutting the bread in pieces to take back to the table. This act prompted me to tell her about my joy in having a new bread knife (thank you, Mama!) with which to cut stecca bread, which then prompted Smyth to ask me if I ever make bread. Why yes, I do! And I make my own stecca! Smyth asked for the recipe I use, which prompted this letter on my blog.

Dear Smyth,

I am so happy to share the stecca bread recipe with you because many other people have also requested this recipe and I want everyone to have it, and for everyone to know they can make stecca at home that tastes a lot like the stecca bread from the café. As you will have heard Seth say at the end of his sermons on Sunday, do you believe it?

Try it and you will see that it is true.

The recipe is below the photos for you to open and print.

Stecca Bread, Like the Swamp Rabbit Café Makes

Happy Baking!
Love,
Ginger

P.S. My favorite way to eat this homemade stecca is to slice the bread into very thin pieces, slather the bread with Happy Cow Butter from the café (no, I do not make my own butter), and then put thinly sliced raw radishes on top.