A Boost of Confidence

Have you ever made homemade bread?  I used to use a breadmachine where you pretty much can't go wrong.  But, have you noticed that when using a breadmachine that your loaf of bread is weird shaped?  But, nonetheless, it was easy and it was yummy so I continued to use it.  And eat HUGE, weird-shaped sandwiches!

Then a belt broke on my machine.  Replacement parts are hard to come by (in this disposable, throw-away society *sigh*) and new breadmachines are difficult to find... at least where I'm from that is!

So, throughout the years, I have made several attempts to bake some fresh, homemade bread using various recipes.   First of all, what a MESS!  Flour everywhere, sticky, gooey fingers and lots of gummy, flour caked dishes to wash!  Second, some loaves would turn out OK but there was always something not right about the loaf... flavor, texture, denseness, etc.  And then there were the loaves that went directly to the chickens.  Like the loaves I made on Friday.  Yuck!  The chickens loved them though so at least they didn't go to waste.

I found another recipe online that I wanted to try so I thought I'd give it one more shot.  I had also made up my mind that if this bread didn't turn out it would be a long time before I attempted it again (even though it kills me to pay so much for a loaf of bread at the grocery store!) because one can only take so much failure in the kitchen on the same item!

Yesterday was the day.  I cowgirled-up and got the ingredients out to attempt this new recipe.  The recipe called for mixing the first of the ingredients in a large bowl but I used my new Kitchen-Aid mixer instead.  (One of the  reviews I read said that they had used their mixer and it turned out so I figured I could too!).  Everything was going smooth.  I dumped all the ingredients in the bowl as the recipe called for, lowered the dough hook and cranked it up.  Flour went everywhere!  I should've known better than to add all the flour at once but I wasn't thinking.  I was too busy following directions *smile*.  But, after each otherwise successful step, my confidence was boosted.

And, tada, the final results!  Look at that buttery top... yum!

The recipe said it would make three loaves, but since I only had two loaf pans I decided to make two large loaves.  I think they actually turned out the right size for a nice sandwich.

Just look at the texture.  I couldn't wait until it had cooled down for the ultimate test... the taste test.  After dinner, Country Boy and I had a slice with butter on it.

Oh yea... it passed with flying colors!  Nice flavor, good texture and not too dense.

It was messy but I know of a few things I'll do differently next time.  Yes, I said next time because I'm no longer afraid of making bread, yay!

If you're looking for a fairly simple bread recipe click HERE.

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Till next time,