189 The Unflappable Farmer's Wife and Her Daily Bread

Imagine a Tennessee dairy farm - and then there's a cellar with a packed dirt floor and shelves made of wood, heavy with jars of home-canned produce-including the blackberry jam Judith and her sisters smothered on their mother's famous Sally Lunn bread.

Listening to Judith describe her mother, Joann, I was challenged as a hostess but especially as a mother. I DO love welcoming people into my home and I love cooking for them! Nevertheless, I often grumble when plans interrupt my day or slightly panic if I haven't had time to prepare the abundant meals I like to serve. It's my kid's who see, feel, and often carry my stress, even if my guest's don't.

Joann, however-a farmer's wife who gained seven dependents in the first seven years of her marriage-never seemed rushed, overwhelmed, or frustrated to Judith or her other children. Instead, day after day, she calmly built a life of humble hospitality, generous meals, and deep relationships around a table that, by Judith's account, was never empty.

Perhaps the secret to her steadiness was her view that hospitality wasn't about entertaining or perfection-it was simply about welcoming others in. But I suspect it was more than that oft-repeated "secret" - I think it was about her true commitment to friendship. Even now, at 90, Judith's mother carries the same purpose - to welcome and befriend others - into every new season of life.

For Judith, simple Sally Lunn bread-rich, soft, and baked in a Bundt pan-holds her mother's legacy of hospitality, of showing up, and providing comfort. Here's Judith, reflecting on her mother and the bread that tells her story. We begin with the first time Judith's mother encountered this now-beloved loaf...

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