Helen Ryan's white bread

My mom (Cory's grandma and Maddy's great- grandma used to make amazing bread! I used to love to watch as the flab under her arm would swing back and forth while she stirred the heavy dough. She never measured anything, so one of my sisters followed one day as she made it and measured the ingredients as she added them. When she was through kneading it, she would say "Get it nice and smooth, then pat it like a baby's bottom." The potato water she used was the water she used to cook potatoes in. We had potatoes with dinner every night (like all good Irishmen!) so she always had potato water. Don't salt the potatoes when you cook them if you are going to use the water for bread. 

Preparation Time: A long time!!!!

Ingredients:
4 cups potato water
1/3 cup shortening (Crisco or lard)
1/3 cup sugar
2 pkgs. dry yeast or 3 small cakes fresh yeast ( Mom always used fresh)
1 Tablespoon salt
flour

Directions:
Dissolve the yeast in 1 cup of luke warm potato water. Add salt, sugar, and shortening to the other 3 cups of hot potato water. Stir until luke warm. Add yeast and stir. Add 1 cup of flour at a time and mix with a large spoon until it forms a soft ball. Put on a floured board and add flour and knead until it is smooth and elastic. (Like a baby's bottom.) Use a wooden rolling pin and beat and turn dough. The more kneading, the lighter the bread will be. Place in a greased bowl and butter the top of the dough. Set it over a pan with 1 cup hot water in bottom of pan. Cover with a cloth. Let rise until double in bulk. Punch down. Let rise again, then make into rolls or loaves. Let rise until doubled. Bake in 400 degree oven for 35-40 minutes for loaves or 30 minutes for rolls.

Source: Submitted in loving memory of my mom.
Servings: 4 loaves but you can cut it down.