As many of you know, I am offering bread baking classes in the kitchen of our monastery guest facility, the Bethany House. Saturday I taught a class in braided loaves to a 7th-grader-to-be and she ROCKED it! We did a slab braid, a crown braid and a lattice braid with ham and cheese. Afterwards we made fresh butter and she gave me a little violin concert. Special thanks to mom and dad for taking such great pictures. Check out the slide show! Then Sunday I had an engaged couple

You can use white, wheat, or multigrain doughs for this braid. This is a fairly simple technique but it yields dramatic results, and the loaf looks especially nice on a holiday buffet table. Yields one loaf Ingredients 1 batch of Single Loaf White Dough 1 ½ cups coarsely chopped ham 1 ½ cups sharp Cheddar cheese 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water for egg wash (optional) Punch down dough and knead lightly to expel larger air bubbles; divide dough into two portions.

Here's a quick and easy way to make a lovely braided loaf without having to roll out perfectly even ropes. You can use any kind of bread dough you like: basic white or wheat, multigrain, etc.