God and Nature 2025 #3
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Bread of Life
By Kristine Johnson
I adore bread. In the cookbook I am writing, I currently have 24 recipes for breads, buns, rolls, pitas, muffins, and biscuits (not including recipes that use bread like French toast or are bread adjacent like pretzels, popovers, or scones).
There’s something so special and comforting about the smell and taste of freshly baked bread. One of the things I adore about bread is the great diversity of options. Irish soda bread, banana bread, and honey beer bread are simple and don’t require kneading or time to rise. Challah and Focaccia are decadent and beautiful with plaits or dimples. Caramel rolls are a Christmas tradition. Brown molasses bread is a hearty side perfect with dinner on a crisp fall evening. Crusty breads are great for dipping in soups and chili throughout the cold winter months. During the summer months, when the weather is hot, I often choose to make naan or pita breads because they can be made on the grill or stove top and don’t require baking in the oven. Our lives are enriched (mine might be a few pounds too enriched) by a great variety of breads.
Jesus spoke about bread throughout his ministry, using it as an analogy for life and his body.
Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world (John 6:47-51).
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked:
Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” … While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom (Matthew 26:17, 26-29).
We do not live by bread alone, but bread is a delicious contribution to an abundant and flourishing life.
Focaccia Bread
½ red onion
¾ cup whole milk
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1¼ cup mashed potatoes
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon yeast
½ cup warm water (about 105°)
3 cups flour (may need a bit more if dough is too sticky)
decorative items like sliced tomato, sliced mini-peppers, chives, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, herbs, etc.
Thinly slice the onion. Set aside a few rings, and finely dice the remaining onion. Add diced onion to a large saucepan with milk and heat until warm, but not boiling, for 10 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, salt, and mashed potatoes, and bring to 105°.
Combine yeast, warm water, and 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon oil in a mixer bowl with a dough hook attachment. Let it sit for 5 minutes to activate the yeast. Add the potato mixture and combine. Add flour 1 cup at a time. Mix for 2 minutes until a ball forms.
Set the bowl in a warm place and cover with a towel or plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about an hour.
Divide the mixture in two. Spread into 2 oiled cookie sheets. Use fingers to texture the top. Brush with remaining oil. Decorate.
Let the dough rise a second time for about an hour. Bake at 350° F for 20 minutes, rotating after 10 minutes. Serve warm with olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and freshly cracked pepper.
By Kristine Johnson
I adore bread. In the cookbook I am writing, I currently have 24 recipes for breads, buns, rolls, pitas, muffins, and biscuits (not including recipes that use bread like French toast or are bread adjacent like pretzels, popovers, or scones).
There’s something so special and comforting about the smell and taste of freshly baked bread. One of the things I adore about bread is the great diversity of options. Irish soda bread, banana bread, and honey beer bread are simple and don’t require kneading or time to rise. Challah and Focaccia are decadent and beautiful with plaits or dimples. Caramel rolls are a Christmas tradition. Brown molasses bread is a hearty side perfect with dinner on a crisp fall evening. Crusty breads are great for dipping in soups and chili throughout the cold winter months. During the summer months, when the weather is hot, I often choose to make naan or pita breads because they can be made on the grill or stove top and don’t require baking in the oven. Our lives are enriched (mine might be a few pounds too enriched) by a great variety of breads.
Jesus spoke about bread throughout his ministry, using it as an analogy for life and his body.
Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world (John 6:47-51).
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked:
Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” … While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom (Matthew 26:17, 26-29).
We do not live by bread alone, but bread is a delicious contribution to an abundant and flourishing life.
Focaccia Bread
½ red onion
¾ cup whole milk
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1¼ cup mashed potatoes
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon yeast
½ cup warm water (about 105°)
3 cups flour (may need a bit more if dough is too sticky)
decorative items like sliced tomato, sliced mini-peppers, chives, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, herbs, etc.
Thinly slice the onion. Set aside a few rings, and finely dice the remaining onion. Add diced onion to a large saucepan with milk and heat until warm, but not boiling, for 10 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, salt, and mashed potatoes, and bring to 105°.
Combine yeast, warm water, and 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon oil in a mixer bowl with a dough hook attachment. Let it sit for 5 minutes to activate the yeast. Add the potato mixture and combine. Add flour 1 cup at a time. Mix for 2 minutes until a ball forms.
Set the bowl in a warm place and cover with a towel or plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about an hour.
Divide the mixture in two. Spread into 2 oiled cookie sheets. Use fingers to texture the top. Brush with remaining oil. Decorate.
Let the dough rise a second time for about an hour. Bake at 350° F for 20 minutes, rotating after 10 minutes. Serve warm with olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and freshly cracked pepper.
Kristine Johnson is a Senior Advanced Systems Engineer at Honeywell Aerospace Technologies leading various systems, qualification testing, and hardware teams on several commercial aviation products. Kristine is a Fellow of the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA), President of the North Star Chapter of the ASA, and oversees the Christian Women in Science (CWiS) Facebook page. She is on the Industry Advisory Board for the University of Northwestern’s Engineering program, and she is Vice President of the Christian Engineering Society. She is a member of the Society of Women Engineers and is also a professional face painter.