Bread

I love all kinds of bread. I prefer it to potato, rice, or even pasta. I'd have bread at every meal, and so when the Easton area is full of good bread, I have to watch my carbs!

It's been a long time since I tasted the incredibly dull taste of Wonder Bread, but I ate a lot of peanut butter and fluff sandwiches or peanut butter and banana sandwiches when I was a kid. Today, the supermarkets are filled with much more healthy choices like the offerings of the "When Pigs Fly" bakery in Maine that bakes several hearty whole grain breads like Anadama Bread or Pumpernickel. The name Anadama alleged originated in New England when a husband came home to find that his wife was off gallivanting and hadn't made the bread-"Anna Damn her" bread was what the husband threw together.

Even regular bakers like Arnold put out solid healthy non-white choices. Sadly my "favorite" bread from Arnold are those flats that you can slap around a turkey burger and pretend you are eating a roll. At least they come in whole wheat and multigrain varieties.

Real bread lately has come from the Farmer's Market. This summer O'Brien's Bakery from Quincy, the long time Easton Farmer's Market champ had to duke it out with Bridgewater Village Bakery aka The Sourdough Lady. Despite O'Briens offering every bread variety under the sun, the artisanal sourdough was the hands down winner with the customers. At the indoor Winter Market at Simpson Springs there are often three bakers on site. The great breads and confections from Bridgewater come in their infinite variety, but Linda S. from Pond Street has found her niche with scones, cookies, and fudge. A new baker from Norton has also come in with non-sourdough artisan breads; the one loaf of rosemary cheese bread I tried was great!

The problem with artisanal breads is they often come in shapes that are not sandwich optimal. Easton has a solution for that at Andrews Cafe. One of my three New Year's resolutions was to eat at Andrews Cafe at least once a week.  I love their sandwiches-simple, healthy, excellent, with a great price and a cookie for dessert (if you can stay away from their amazing blondies). The bread is a highlight not a sidelight in Andrew's sandwiches. Anyway after my sandwich I bought a loaf of rye bread to take home. Their bread makes great toast whether its multigrain, Jewish rye, pumpernickel, or marble rye (my favorite).

I'm not going to forget two out of town places although I don't go to either one for bread. One is Back Bay Bay Bagel. Now I taught in Randolph when the population was heavily Jewish so I know my bagels as well as knishes, tsimmes and other fabulous food. My Randolph friends and I agree that Back Bay makes the best bagels in the area surpassing the late and somewhat lamented Zeppy's in Randolph.

In exotic Stoughton there is the Stoughton Bakery right next to the train station. I've discovered the back way to this place that avoids the Square, and it is becoming a weekend trip tradition. Recently reviewed in the Globe, it features all sorts of baked goods with a Portuguese flair. They make a linguica roll that is really great and a little fried "cake" that has shrimp in a white sauce inside. My favorite is a guilty pleasure for a diabetic-a sweet custard in a small pastry cup. While waiting for my shimp cake the other day I was looking around the shop when I discovered a bag of seasoning. Tune in tomorrow to discover how a decades long quest to get the secret recipe for Portuguese meat on a stick finally was realized. Take that you Freitas, Pires, and Gomes families!