Traditions

No visit to Idaho is complete without a stop to see Grandma Ison, and no visit to Grandma Ison is complete without a piece of homemade whole wheat bread. As a child I was known as her "dough baby" because I always swiped bread dough when she was not looking. It was a real treat to be at Grandma Ison's house on the day she made bread.

Growing up my mother NEVER made homemade bread because she was scarred from her weekly bread making as a child, and refused to make bread when no longer forced to by her mother. She also refused to eat wheat bread. It was Wonder Bread or nothing. As a result I do not like the fluff that is Wonder Bread. I think it has about as much flavor as a piece of cardboard. I have found a nice compromise, I purchase whole wheat bread from Great Harvest, it tastes like Grandma's , only I did not have to make it.

Lucky for us, upon our arrival at Grandma's the Bread was just finishing rising, so we had to visit long enough to allow it to bake and have a piece of hot, fresh bread.

Katie, sitting in the old wooden highchair eating her bread. Little does Katie know that both her mother and grandmother sat and ate in that chair as a baby.

Mark enjoying his bread, with peanut butter and jam.