Aunt Sarah baked these on ironing day. The kitchen being unusually warm, as a result of the extra heat required in the range for heating flatirons, caused the dough to rise more quickly than otherwise would have been the case.
STIRRED BREAD
Frau Schmidt thought bread more easily digested and wholesome if ingredients of a loaf be stirred together instead of kneaded. This is the method she taught Mary. She poured into a bowl 3 cups of luke-warm water, added 1 cake of Fleischman's yeast, dissolved in a little of the water; sifted in gradually about 8½ cups of flour, added 1 tablespoonful of sugar, ½ teaspoonful of salt, mixed all well together with a spoon until a stiff dough was formed, which she molded into two shapely loaves, handling as little as possible; placed in bread pans, allowed to stand several hours to raise, and when light baked. Mary said, "This bread may be more wholesome than old-fashioned bread, which has been kneaded, but I prefer Aunt Sarah's bread, well-kneaded, fine-grained and sweet," but, she continued, "I will make an exception in favor of Aunt Sarah's 'Stirred Oatmeal' bread, which, I think, fine."
POTATO BISCUITS
At 6 o'clock in the morning place in a bowl 1 cup of finely-mashed (boiled) potatoes (the cup of left-over mashed potatoes may be used as a matter of economy). Add 1 cup of potato water (the water drained from boiled potatoes), in which ½ cake of Fleischman's yeast had been dissolved, add 1 cup of flour and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Stand in a warm place to raise, from 1 to 1¼ hours. At the expiration of that time add to the foamy sponge 1 large tablespoonful of butter or lard, 1 egg and ½ teaspoonful of salt, beaten together before adding. Add about 2 cups of flour, beat thoroughly and allow to raise another hour; then roll out the dough about 1 inch in thickness and cut into small biscuits, dip each one in melted butter and place on pans, a short distance apart, stand about one hour to raise, when bake in a rather hot oven. These Potato Biscuits are particularly nice when freshly baked, and resemble somewhat biscuits made from baking powder. From this recipe was made two dozen biscuits.