Cows in the garden bread

I was invited to join in for a recipe exchange today and I sent this one.....mostly because it was on hand but also because it is one of my most requested recipes. It's a wonderful bread...it makes the absolute best toast I've ever had (it's soooo very addictive!) and also makes great dinner rolls or sandwich rolls. It has it's own unique flavor that I've never found in any other bread and it goes with almost anything. I used to bake this bread by the dozens of loaves and hundreds of rolls...I've also turned the dough into pizza crusts and pitas. I mimicked the recipe from memories of working in a bakery on a dairy farm back home...that was one of my favorite jobs that I've ever had in my life. The dairy and bakery no longer exist, they were blown away in a tornado earlier this year so this recipe is all the more precious to me.

Spinach bread or Cows in the Garden

1 envelope active dry yeast
1/4 c very warm water
1/3 c butter
1/4 c sugar
1 T salt
2 1/4 c scalded milk
1 egg, beaten
1/4c shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c shredded onion
1/4c finely chopped spinach
7 to 8 c flour

Sprinkle yeast into very warm water in a small bowl. Stir until yeast dissolves. Put butter, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl; add scalded milk and stir until fat melts and sugar and salt dissolve. Let mixture cool until lukewarm.
Stir yeast mixture into lukewarm milk mixture; add egg and beat utnil well mixed. Add cheese, spinach and onion. mix well. Add about half the flour and beat vigourously until smooth; beat in enough of the remaining flour, about 1/2 cup at a time, to make a soft dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board; invert the bowl over it and let rest for ten minutes; knead dough, adding enough flour to keep it from sticking, about ten minutes or until it becomes smooth and elastic in your hands. Shape dough into a ball and place in a greased mixing bowl, turning to
coat all over with shortening; cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place, away from draft, about an hour or until doubled. Punch dough down, then shape into rolls or loaves. Place on greased baking sheets; cover with towels; let rise again in warm place about thirty minutes or until doubled. preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Bake in preheated oven until done.