• 2 cups warm milk. 1 cup melted margarine. 6 eggs. 1 1/2 cups sugar. 2 tsp. salt. 1 package rapid rise dry yeast (purchased in set with 3 pkgs). 3/4 cup warm water. 3 tsp. sugar. 3 cups flour (more if needed). 1 egg beaten.

1. Mix milk and margarine in bowl.
2. Mix eggs, 1 1/2 cups sugar and salt in a separate bowl.
3. Mix rapid dry yeast water and 3 tsp. sugar in separate bowl.
4. In large bowl combine yeast batch with egg batch.
5. Then add the milk and margarine batch into large bowl.
6. Slowly add 3 cups flour mixing by spoon.
7. Add more flour until dough is formed.
8. Knead on board with flour until dough is not sticky.
9. Let sit for 10 min to activate yeast.
10. Separate into 5 equal sections (recipe makes 5 loaves).
11. Then divide each section into 3 parts.
12. Roll out the parts in to long strands.
13. Braid into loaves.
14. Put loaves on baking tray in warm place with no draft cover with towel.
15. Open oven, turn to warm, and set loaves on door.
16. Allow bread to proof for 25 min.
17. Remove towel.
18. Brush top of bread with a beaten egg.

Shirley Weidieker is an amazing woman who has made it a point to carry on the traditions of Egg Bread in her family. The tradition started with her grandmother, Anna Spani, an immigrant from Switzerland. Anna came to America in the late 1800s, and became an indentured servant at the age of sixteen. She worked for a family in Elgin, Illinois to pay off the debt she accumulated when moving to America. In the beginning of her servitude Anna was a horrible baker; she could never get the bread dough right and constantly had to secretly dispose of bad batches. Her favorite place to dispose of the batches was in the outhouse. As one can imagine, uncooked, yeast-based dough begins to stink terribly. The landowner noticed the rancid smell, and when he realized how much waste there was, he was furious. Anna was in a lot of trouble, but still did not understand how to bake, so her humiliation continued until her servitude was over.

Upon repaying her debt, she got a job catering at a synagogue across the street from her parish. It was there that Anna finally learned how yeast works and how to cook with it properly. Once she finally understood the process of making bread, she was often put in charge of making Challah. Challah is Jewish egg-based bread that Anna adapted to her Swiss roots. Her version of Challah is the Egg Bread that has been passed down for generations. Keeping the tradition of preparing Egg Bread and eating it is very important to Shirley. As Shirley puts it with a chuckle, it is important because "it is the only way I know for sure I can get my girls to come see me." No one wants to miss the first weekend of December; it is the weekend that Shirley teaches all the women in the family how to make Egg Bread. After the weekend all the women take multiple loaves home to their families where it is devoured almost instantaneously. As Shirley's grandson, Joe Rath, said "The day my mom brings home egg bread is the one day that is better than Christmas." Joe can thank his Great-Great Grandmother Anna for his favorite day on the year.