Gimmee Bread, Man

Yesterday was ladies' lunch at Silver City Brewery.  All my girls have their birthday in March and I take them all out for lunch and we have a great time.  This year I even got presents!!  In the picture, Miss MaggieMay on the left, Miss KnowItAll in the center, and my daughter-in-law, Miss PeggyRae, on the right.

I want to expound on my ideas about bread today.  Remember back in the late 80s when everybody went gaga over bread machines??  After about six months to a year, most machines went to live out their life on a shelf out in the garage.  Not mine.  I'm on my third one and I bought it in 2000, and it is still going strong.  It is a Breadman Pro and definitely worth the money, although it is getting scruffed up.  It always lives on the counter with the doggie bone cookie jar.

When did store bought bread get so expensive??  A loaf of good bread (like Killer Dave) will set you back about $5 at my store, and the rest of the bunch are pretty spendy, also.  And have you read the label recently??  I found this in the very back of my fridge and was freaked out when I read the label because I had eaten most of the loaf:

This is the list of ingredients to make this humble loaf of bread:

1. Wheat flour
2. Malted barley flour
3. Niacin
4. Reduced iron
5. Thiamin monointrate
6. Riboflavin
7. Folic acid
8. Water
9. Oats
10. Triticale
11. Barley
12. Rye
13. Wheat germ
14. Flax seeds
15. Sunflower seeds
16. Cornmeal
17. Yeast
18. Sugar
19. Vital wheat gluten
20. Brown sugar
21. Vegetable oil
22. Raisin paste
23. Cultured wheat flour
24. Distilled vinegar
25. Xanthan gum
26. Salt
27. Dough conditioner
28. Calcium sulfate
29. Enzymes
30. Nonfat dry milk
31. Soy flour

Pretty scary, isn't it??  No wonder bread has gotten so expensive.  This particular loaf expired in February and is still going strong with no mold.  I don't know about this.  I prefer to make my own.  It is easy, inexpensive, and I know exactly what is in it.

I buy my yeast at Costco and store it in the bottom drawer of the fridge.  It is a cinch to measure or weigh it out and the whole bag cost about the same as a three stripper from the market.  Miss CutiePie told me about King Arthur flour about a year ago.  It makes a better loaf than regular bread flour.  I have no idea why, it just does.

I tinkered with my recipe for quite some time before I got it just right.

• 2 1/4 t yeast, or one pack
• 11/8 c warm water
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T molasses
• 11/2 c unbleached flour
• 3/4 c whole wheat flour
• 3/4 c whole oats
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 c sunflower seeds

Proof the yeast in the warm water.  When it blooms, pour it into the breadmaker pan.  Add the rest of the ingredients, except the sunflower seeds, which are added towards the end of the kneading.  Close the lid and turn on the machine.

As you can see, this makes a tall loaf.  If I want a perfectly shaped loaf, I put it in a loaf pan when the kneading is done and bake it.  This loaf will last me at least two weeks in the fridge and makes fabulous toast.

So dig out that old breadmaker and give it a go.  It just takes a few minutes to measure the ingredients.  You can load most breadmakers in the evening and set it to be done baking by the time you get up the next morning.  This wasn't a huge success at the MoneyPenny house because the wonderful smell of baking bread jerked us right out of a sound sleep before we were ready to get up.