Kitten Tits! That made me giggle Yessi!
Hey Rosey, I lucked up and found my bread machine brand new in the box at Goodwill for 14.99! Retails for about 60.00 or so! I printed the owners manual/recipe book and put it in sheet protectors in a binder cause its chock full of recipes of all kinds! Breads - wheat, white, sweet, pizza crust, pasta, pretzels can all be made in this thing. It also has a jam setting on there that apparently I can make that with it as well.
This machine mixes, kneads, lets it rise, kneads some more, lets it rise, punches it down once more then bakes it. It has a little window on top to watch everything and I do watch quite often cause its fascinating to me. It has a one sided little paddle in there and it whips the dough ball all around inside. Neatest appliance I've ever owned!
This is the easiest way to make bread ever. It has a little inner baking loaf pan that pulls out. You follow the instructions to the letter because baking is really an exact science and you add the ingredients all in a certain order into the baking pan. The liquid goes in first, the dry ingredients and then you make a little shallow hole in the dry ingredients (flour) and add the active yeast.
You snap in the little pan into the bread machine and close the lid, choose what kind you are baking (basic, wheat, French, Sweet etc) and choose your crust color Light Med Dark and I always go with medium. My first loaf was basic white bread and it turned out perfect. Crispy outside, soft and tender inside. So I got fancier last nite and made Italian herb cooked on the French Bread cycle. It is so very good! Just like a French loaf should be crusty crunch (and all the crust doesn't flake off everywhere either!) and soft inside. It will be perfect for sandwiches or use for dipping.
It's the Oster #5838 58 min Express Bake and as long as you keep all your measurements exact it will turn out perfect every time! It takes 3-4 hours depending on which kind of bread you are baking, but all you do is add everything into the baking pan, close the lid, choose your settings and leave it alone. The house smells amazing when its cooking too!
I got super tired of all those chemicals in my bread and food so I have been steadily changing what we eat. I have lost 35 lbs and keeping it off because of simply moderation. Small portions, snack on fruit, drink tons of water and 30 mins of activity that makes me sweat every day. I work in the yard a lot planting and pruning and if its raining I walk on the treadmill. I hate it but its working. I feel great! I love fresh fruit and vegetables and growing some of that makes me feel proud of myself in a June Cleaver kind of way! HA!
I turned 50 last September and ever since then I've made changes in my diet, exercise and mentally. Striving for peace within and winning most days! Life is too short not to enjoy it and bake your own bread! xoxo <3
Here is what I listened to while I was preparing the ingredients for the Italian herb bread! I dance the whole time I cook