Bread

I love real bread. Not that wondrous white stuff that Mom served me as a kid that started out so fluffy but was quickly shrink-rayed into tiny instant play-dough balls with a couple of good mashes. To be fair, every good mom served that stuff to her children way back in the olden days, and, it had its merits. It made wonderfully doughy dumplings in my cream of tomato soup Grandmother served when I was sick.

No, what I love is REAL bread.

YUM.

Here’s a picture of the bread I made today.



I wish I could save the smell in a .sml file and post it here, but I’m not that technically savvy.

Here’s a picture of a dog who knows I’ve made bread.


See how nicely he sits? He knows there's bread.

Here’s a picture of a dog who knows Mommy is a sucker and will give him the first piece.


Doggie alien eyes are a side effect of bread deficiency... or the lack of Photoshop.

Here’s a picture of the first piece being devoured.


He may be old and blind, but he can devour a piece of bread in 2.8 seconds.


Here’s the lovely second piece, slathered with butter.



Don’t judge me! I’m eating freshly milled, whole grain bread -- see the nutritious flax seed in the background? A little butter is in order.


Like any good wife, I do not eat the bread of idleness. Rather, I make my bread with my own two hands. I push the button on the electric grain mill mill my own wheat flour from a carefully blended mixture of organic hard red and hard white wheat. Then toss it in the bread machine with a few other ingredients carefully blend it with other wholesome organic ingredients and ensure that it is properly kneaded and risen. Then I press the on button and impatiently wait 2 hours and 28 minutes until the machine beeps bake it to perfection.

Makes you want a slice, doesn’t it?

Makes you long for the days of yore when families farmed their own grain and made bread daily... or not...

Makes my soul serene.

So, here's the recipe. And, since this is my very own version that at one point started out as Sue Becker's recipe that I tweaked and twisted, I want to make certain that I take a moment to plug Breadbeckers, the place I get all of my grain, yeast, chocolate chips and other bread and pastry-making supplies.

Go there. Learn stuff. Live better.

They have a free "Getting Started Class" on September 19, 2009, sign up.

Bread, 2 Pound Loaf

This, like all of my recipes, has some "ishes" -- which means that it's not an exact measurement. HOWEVER, I will say that bread-making is a very exact science, so the measurements that I do give are pretty important. Now, you can make this recipe by hand or in a bread machine. What I think makes my bread so dang tasty is the particular bread machine that I use, the Zojirushi Home Bakery. If you actually own this or go out and buy one, give me a holler and I'll tell you my settings.

Ingredients
1.5 cups warm water
1/2-ish of 1/3 cup of Coconut Oil
the other 1/2-ish of 1/3 cup of Olive Oil
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
3 cups of freshly milled organic hard white wheat
1.5 cups of freshly milled organic hard red wheat
1 cup freshly ground flax seed
1 tbsp dry yeast

Place ingredients in machine in order listed. Bake according to manufacturer's directions for your bread machine UNLESS you have the Zojirushi, then ask me for settings.