To avoid thinking about whether the New York Times, where I briefly worked as a copy editor, is going to close the Boston Globe, where I spent most of my career as an editor, critic and writer, I baked.

That’s my consolation when I’m worried or upset. Usually I bake bread, mostly over a couple of days using a biga and long, slow risings. But today I didn’t have a starter so I made War Bread. This is a Bernard Clayton recipe from the 1940s, invented by a thrifty housewife who didn’t enough war-time coupons to use only white flour and instead substituted what grains she had on hand.

My war bread

  These fat, golden loaves are filled with whole wheat flour, cornmeal, oats, a little molasses which gives them their color, and a modest amount of unbleached white. The result is a wonderful bread with a good crumb, great taste and lots of whole grain nutrition. And unlike some whole grain breads, it’s not too heavy.

A perfect antidote for heavy times.