one successful loaf of homemade bread!
There's a great sense of satisfaction I get out of being able to point at something and say, "I made that," whether it's art on our walls, a skirt in my closet or yogurt in the fridge. As I've endeavored to expand my prowess in the kitchen, one of my goals has been to make more and more things from scratch. On that list is learning to make my own bread.
As I considered this, I remembered that my mom had an old bread maker sitting in the basement that she rarely uses. So I asked if I could borrow it as I set out on my bread-making experimentations. Of course she said yes (she's my mom!), so Michael and I hauled the large white contraption home, and set it on the countertop, saddled just beside our coffee maker. I checked out a bread-machine cookbook from the library and set to work, seeing what kinds of homemade goodies me and my newfound friend could whip up.
Let me just say, it has not been quite as easy as I thought it would, and sometimes the bread maker seems more foe than friend. To date, I've had about as many bread-making successes as I have had failures:
Delicious: two loaves of wheat bread; one batch of hamburger buns; two batches of pizza dough
Disappointments: beer bread; dinner rolls; hamburger buns (this was after the first successful batch!); English muffins
Part of me wants to throw in the (dish) towel and give up--stick to the grocery-store shelves like everyone else. But another part of me--the part that is committed to conquering the kitchen once and for all--desperately wants to press on and through these culinary hiccups.
So in the spirit of second (and third and fourth) tries, I fired up the bread machine and poured in some water, eggs, flour, yeast for a new wheat bread recipe. And do you know what garnished our breakfast table this morning? Toasted homemade bread--with storebought strawberry jam. (I know when to stop while I'm ahead!)
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As I considered this, I remembered that my mom had an old bread maker sitting in the basement that she rarely uses. So I asked if I could borrow it as I set out on my bread-making experimentations. Of course she said yes (she's my mom!), so Michael and I hauled the large white contraption home, and set it on the countertop, saddled just beside our coffee maker. I checked out a bread-machine cookbook from the library and set to work, seeing what kinds of homemade goodies me and my newfound friend could whip up.
Let me just say, it has not been quite as easy as I thought it would, and sometimes the bread maker seems more foe than friend. To date, I've had about as many bread-making successes as I have had failures:
Delicious: two loaves of wheat bread; one batch of hamburger buns; two batches of pizza dough
Disappointments: beer bread; dinner rolls; hamburger buns (this was after the first successful batch!); English muffins
Part of me wants to throw in the (dish) towel and give up--stick to the grocery-store shelves like everyone else. But another part of me--the part that is committed to conquering the kitchen once and for all--desperately wants to press on and through these culinary hiccups.
So in the spirit of second (and third and fourth) tries, I fired up the bread machine and poured in some water, eggs, flour, yeast for a new wheat bread recipe. And do you know what garnished our breakfast table this morning? Toasted homemade bread--with storebought strawberry jam. (I know when to stop while I'm ahead!)
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I found your blog from Tammy's recipes and I am enjoying reading it. I did a post on some of my favorite bread machine recipes if you are interested. Don't give up - I really love my bread maker. But I do use my mixer as well.
ReplyDeletehttp://extraordinaryordinarylife.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/bread-machine-recipes-my-favorites/
Oh thank you, Gretchen! I appreciate that. I'm definitely going to check out your recipes. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI love my bread machine (for mixing the dough that is). I grew up with my grandma's homemade bread--and btw handmade too ;) I use my bread maker on the dough setting. When the bread has risen, I take it out, punch it down, shape the dough for loaves, rolls. or whatever. Let the dough rise a second time and bake. There are just some things an appliance can't do like grandma did it!
ReplyDeleteThis is my personal bread recipe that I've perfected over the years. My 82 year old mom LOVES it!
ReplyDeleteMaple Whole Wheat Bread (1 1/2 lb. loaf)
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup warm milk
2 tbs. butter
3 tbs. maple syrup
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. bread machine yeast
2 2/3 cups whole wheat flour
DIRECTIONS:
Add ingredients according to the manufacturer's directions for your bread machine. Use the wheat bread cycle and light colour setting.
Enjoy!
Saskatchewan, CANADA