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Feature Article Saying Goodbye to the Bread Ladies of Dominica Ashley Pearman and her partner Andrea Morgan—or the “bread ladies” as they are more popularly known—have been providing baked goods to students, staff and faculty in Dominica since their arrival in 2007; however, their time on the island is quickly coming to an end. Andrea and her husband Kyle are now in Chicago where he is in clinical rotations. And in December, Ashley and her husband Ryan will leave Dominica so that he can begin his clinical rotations in Miami. Ashley and Andrea first met in September of 2007 when they both arrived in Dominica with their husbands, who were beginning their first and third semesters of medical school. “She and I were both new to the island and did not know many other spouses. We met through the Ross Christian Fellowship and became friends immediately,” Ashley said. Before coming to Dominica, Ashley had never baked a loaf of bread and she didn’t even learn how to cook until she got married. Needless to say, she never dreamed that she would become famous on the island for her baking abilities. “After we got married I started cooking, but I never once thought about baking my own bread. Once we moved to Dominica I started cooking non-stop, primarily because I didn't know what else to do while Ryan was studying. The bread that we were able to buy at the local store was not the greatest and was often not even available. Andrea made bread and gave a loaf to Ryan and me. It was fabulous, so I got the recipe from her and started making my own bread. A few of our friends tried the bread and commented that they would pay us to bake some for them. And that’s really how the whole thing started.” According to Ashley, she and Andrea quickly became experts at substituting ingredients in their recipes. “We had to first see what ingredients we could find at our local stores. Then we started looking up recipes online. We tried several different recipes before we settled on one recipe for white bread, one recipe for wheat bread, etc. Ingredients here are sometimes hard to find, so we tried to adjust our recipes to make them cost efficient. I feel like I know every cooking substitute there is. I even make substitutes for my substitutes sometimes!” Although Ashley had a difficult time adjusting to Dominica at first, she can now look back on that time and laugh. “When we first got here I wasn’t sure how we were going to survive,” she said. “My first experience at the local grocery store was awful. It was not much bigger than our apartment and it was not air conditioned. I couldn’t find anything on my shopping list so we ate spaghetti a few times during our first week. It took me a while to figure out that grocery shopping was something that took an entire day. I now take a transport to Roseau and grocery shop there.” In time, however, Ashley learned to look past the inconveniences and see the beauty of Dominica. “Dominica has the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. Ryan and I love to watch them whenever we can. We are definitely looking forward to moving back to the U.S., but we will take with us many wonderful memories from Dominica. The people you meet here make the experience wonderful,” she said. And while Ashley and Andrea may physically leave Dominica, they are leaving behind all of their very best recipes in their book, Daily Bread. “The book was actually a surprise birthday gift to me from Andrea,” Ashley explained. “She compiled all of the recipes that we used and turned it into a book for the two of us so that we would always remember how we started this business together. We never thought that other people would be interested in having it also, but many people have actually purchased a copy. The book makes note of the fact that the two women were quite surprised by the success of their business. “We just thought we would give it a shot and see if people were interested in buying bread from us. We immediately became so busy that we couldn't always fill all of the orders we received. We put some customer quotes in the cookbook. People were very thankful to have what they call ‘real bread.’” Some of Ashley and Andrea’s favorite bread recipes include: Amish white bread • 2 cups warm water (110 °F) In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in the warm water. Stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam (about 5 to 10 minutes). Mix salt and oil into yeast with a wooden spoon. Stir in flour one cup at a time, until dough pulls from sides and comes together. Knead dough on a lightly-floured surface until smooth (about 8 minutes). Place in well-oiled bowl, and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Classic whole wheat bread • 2 T. white sugar Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water. Let proof. Combine yeast mix with milk, vegetable oil, wheat flour, one cup white flour and salt. Beat well. Add remaining flour, one half cup at a time. Mix well. Knead for about 10 minutes. Place dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for one hour or until doubled. Punch down dough and shape. Place in loaf pan. Let rise for 30 to 40 minutes. Brush with egg (optional). Bake at 400° degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Makes one loaf. Perfect cornbread Sift flour with sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in cornmeal. Add eggs, milk and shortening. Beat just until smooth, being sure not to over mix. Add cream-style corn. Pour into greased 9x9x2-inch pan. Bake at 425° degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. |
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