"Anna was a lovely bride, but Anna, damn 'er, up and died."

The golden-colored Anadama bread is a specialty of New England that is always made with cornmeal and molasses. Many cookbooks relate stories about the origins of its unusual name. One being the quote above that was supposedly on Anna’s tombstone. I like this one best, only because it reminds me of an epitaph on the tombstone of B. P. Roberts, a notorious hypochondriac, in one of our favorite places, Key West. “I told you I was sick.” I’m drifting slightly here because our annual trip to Key West is only 12 days away.

Anyway, Anadama bread has been around a least since 1850. According to Wikipedia, it is thought it came from the local fishing community in Rockport MA. but it may have come through the Finnish Community of local stone cutters. During the turn of the century around 1900 it was baked by a man named Baker Knowlton on King Street and delivered in a horse-drawn cart to households in Rockport by men in blue smocks.

I modified a recipe from “The Original King Arthur Flour Cookbook” using my active sourdough starter. Wow, when baking, this bread smells amazing and lingers in the house for a while. It’s great toasted for breakfast and I don’t expect it to hang around for very long.

Thanks to Michelle for suggesting this historical challenge.