Sue's Diner: Buttermilk Bread

A loaf of homemade bread is so delightful no matter the season - wouldn't you agree?

So we have a delicious, easy-to-make bread recipe to share with you today, which has been a family favorite and the signature bread in the Baran-Unland home for decades.

In Bryony, Melissa is thrilled when John finally invites her to a picnic away from the mansion, just the two of them. 

Of course, John feels Bryga packed enough food to feed them for a week, but even that careless remark couldn’t completely dampen Melissa’s excitement of being alone with John. Packed in this basket was, of course, a loaf of this wonderful buttermilk bread,

Try this recipe on the Sue's Diner page on the BryonySeries website. 

But try the recipe this week. It will be gone some time next week. A new recipe will take it's place. 

If you have any troubleshooting questions or comments, email us at bryonyseries@gmail.com. 

By the way, Sue's Diner is only real in the BryonySeries world. But didn't Timothy do a great job making the page look like a real menu at a vintage diner?

Here is the full diner page: bryonyseries.com/sue-s-diner. You can't really order, of course (wouldn't it be great if you could?).

For more BryonySeries recipes, check out our three cookbooks at our bryonyseries.com/merchandise.

BryonySeries Throwback Thursday: Kidnapped

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Kidnapped!

It was a balmy, one hundred degrees in my attic yesterday, where I working on several feature stories and looking forward to fireworks later that night.

Despite the heat, the day was far from unpleasant. Too hot even at five-thirty in the morning for power walking, Timothy and I hit the trails with our bikes a little later that morning to enjoy the cooler temperatures of the shade and the "canal effect," one of the advantages of living nearly across the street from the I & M Canal.

Then, in the early afternoon, I interviewed legendary record producter Phil Ramone, who is mentoring a local girl, Molly McKenna Batozech (listen to her original song she recorded here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zlym590hdl0) for a newspaper feature story.

But the day got even better. My oldest son Christopher and his best friend swooped into my attic and informed me I was shutting down my computer and going to Michigan for the night, compliments of them. I argued about morning deadlines, but my mind was already planning which stories needed to go into my backpack for late night writing. I hadn't been to Warren Dunes since I was sixteen.

We were ready to go in about ninety minutes. The drive up was entertaining enough, between chatting with Christopher and texting a friend. Once we arrived, Christopher created fictional Facebook check-ins for our motel (Munsonville Inn) and Redamaks (http://www.redamaks.com/), where they serve the best hamburgers in the world (Sue's Diner), and I even passed along the BryonySeries website to our waitress.

After dinner, we hung at New Buffalo City Beach, which was evacuted at nearly closing time due to a quickly spreading grass fire near the sand, presumably from fireworks gone bad. We didn't wait that long. We were in Christopher's truck by the time the emergency vehicles were arriving.

Tomorrow: writing, editing, and off to Warren Dunes before it's home again, home again.

Good night, and good morning!

Have you checked out Bryony's "Sue's Diner" page lately?

Her mother parked in front of a dingy, squat-looking building, Sue’s Diner. Brian turned and rolled his eyes. Melissa mouthed back, Probably get food poisoning.

“Let’s go, guys!” Darlene peered in the mirror and patted her short hair, the color and texture of corn silk. “Don’t judge a book by its cover. I’ll bet the food is terrific.”

Stiff and cramped from the long ride, Melissa and Brian slowly emerged from the car and entered the dreary building. Brian poked Melissa, and her jaw dropped.

For a small, lakefront village restaurant, throngs of people packed the dining room. There were men in overalls and plaid shirts; women wearing faded, print dresses; and kids in jeans. Darlene asked the gum-cracking, pony-tailed hostess for a table, and the girl led the trio to a booth by the picture window overlooking Main Street. Melissa slid close to the fingerprinted window and glanced down. Clear tape sealed cracks in the vinyl blue-green seats. The table’s smooth top was peppered with gold speckles and imbedded with coffee stains. From Bryony, Chapter 1, Welcome to Munsonville.

Sue's Diner's food, however, as Melissa soon found out, was "surprisingly good," and so are the recipes Sarah Stegall, Bryony's online administrator, is posting on the BryonySeries website each month. Browse, sample, or submit your favorite dish (bryonyseries@gmail.com) to share; the choice is yours. Either way, do visit often and see what's cooking at Munsonville's only eatery.

http://www.bryonyseries.com/Sue_s_Diner.html