Last night, to get back into remembering how the damn thing works, I made the simple 1 lb loaf that was in the manual. delicious, but a bit denser than I like my white bread to be. I'll have to look around for other recipes, or tweak this one, if I want to totally stop buying white bread. or get used to it. The flour i'm using is NOT strictly bread flour, and I'm sure if I used bread flour i might get different results. same thing with my yeast- it's not "bread machine" yeast, though it does say "ideal for bread machines" on the front of the jar. I just don't approve of needing one kind of flour for bread, and one kind for everything else. I can tell you my grandmother never used two kinds...but I guess if I really get into bread making it might be worth it. Right now, it just seems silly to buy (and find a place to store) another kind of flour if i don't know how much i'm going to use it.

The machine has 1 and 1.5 lb settings. I like the 1lb because it produces a quantity we can actually eat before it starts to get hard and dried out. on the other hand, i'll be baking all the damn time just to keep us in bread. It's WAY easier than doing it by hand though, so really I shouldn't complain, and I'm sure I can teach my husband how to operate it.

I've browsed the intarwebs a bit for some other recipes, and many of them just use the dough cycle. I'm beginning to think that might be a good way to go even for white bread, but again it becomes time consuming, and I don't know if that's something I want to do on a regular basis when there's so much other stuff that needs doing around here. I'd definitely do it for french bread, and other special breads, but probably not for something i'd make all the time.

I'm also thinking I need to get some sourdough starter. we like sourdough bread, it'd be nice if I could make it on occasion.

the other thing we need to get is a freezer. I want an upright, not a chest freezer, and I don't need a huge one. one thing it must have, though, is removable shelves, and many of the little ones have the kind of shelves that don't come out.  In addition to storing a couple loaves of bread so I don't have to bake as often, my parents have a freezer full of chicken, beef, and pork, and they'd give me some, because there's only 3 people for most meals now..but I don't have a place to put it. How awesome would that be? Home raised meat with home grown vegetables and home baked bread? I'm almost drooling right now.

anyhoo. if any of you have awesome bread recipes involving bread machines, let me know. I'd like to start using it more, to make wheat breads and whole grain ones and all sorts of tasty stuff. Even if the recipe doesn't involve a bread machine, I can probably still use the dough settings to mix, rise, knead, etc.  Our tummies and taste buds thank you in advance.