Eastern Iowa Farmer Fall 2020

Comfort
With
Food
plenty of time to
bake at home during the
pandemic, yeast supplies
disappeared from shelves.
No problem for this cook,
who simply grew her own
BY kelly gerlach
eastern iowa farmer
Nancy Johnson opened her
front door and the aroma of
freshly baked bread wafted
outside. The homey scent
filled her rural Andrew
home.
On a kitchen island, a white Tupperware
container held eight homemade cinnamon
rolls next to a plate of soft pretzels and
three loaves of homemade bread — all
sourdough.
Johnson baked them during the
COVID-19 pandemic at a time when yeast
was in short supply — virtually non-existent
in stores across the country.
Maquoketa High School’s family
and consumer sciences teacher, Johnson
tapped into the baking practices of
generations of Iowa farm families. Before
commercial yeast, baking soda and baking
powder appeared on the scene in 1860,
they used their own home-created versions
of leavening agents to bake bread, using
cast iron pans on open hearths.
While Johnson has the luxury of a
modern oven, she grew the yeast in her
Nancy Johnson displays the fruits of her labor in making a variety of
baked goods from her own sourdough starter.
Eastern Iowa Farmer photo / Kelly Gerlach
34 Eastern Iowa Farmer | fall 2020 eifarmer.com