It's a Christmas bread with a tradition. To begin with, it is made of 12 strips of dough which represent the 12 months of the year. Then the strips are braided into 4 layers to represent the 4 seasons. There are nuts and raisins in the dough which indicate the type of year to come - mostly nuts represents a good year for farmers, while mostly raisins represents a poor year. Then, before it is served, the youngest boy in the house takes a saved crust from the year before to feed the birds, and a crust from the new loaf is saved for the next year to show there will always be bread in the home.
Christmas Bread
1/2 cup warm water
1 pkg yeast
1 1/3 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg
5 1/4 - 5 3-4 cups flour
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup raisins
Mix warm water and yeast. Let stand 5 minutes. Heat and stir milk, sugar, and salt just until warm. Add to yeast mixture; stir in egg. Stir in 2 cups flour, the nuts and raisins. stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can. Turn onto a floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Shape into a ball, cover, and let rise until double in size. Punch down, cover, and let rest 10 minutes. Divide dough and roll into 12 strips. Weave 5 of the strips together, pinching together the ends and tucking them under the strips. Twist and weave 4 more strips together and place on top of the first layer. Twist 2 strips together to place on top of the second layer, then twist the last strip and place it on top of the third layer. Brush the loaf lightly with oil. Secure the layers with wooden skewers. Cover and let rise until double. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until bread sound s hollow when lightly tapped.
Notes: I wasn't paying close attention to the directions and didn't divide my dough strips correctly. When I realized what I had done, it was too late to fix it, which is why my loaf is not shaped the way it should be. I'll do better next time. Promise.
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