another favorite....

A while back, I started highlighting the favorite websites I have on our blog.  Life got busy, I got distracted, and I didn't get to all of them.

Tonight's favorite is about making bread in about an hour. YES! That is from when I get the flour out of the cupboard until I pull the loaf out of the oven to cool. 

My cousin got me onto this.  For Christmas, a few years ago, she gave me an instruction DVD and some ingredients to make the bread. Making homemade bread?? Didn't she know I was busy with being a mother, teaching, our acerage and building our small business? Making bread was about the last thing on my mind to do.  "It only takes an hour and my family loves it," was her reply.

"An hour?? Ya right!" I thought. So I placed the ingredients and the unopened DVD in my pantry and let it sit.

Fast forward 6 months and my cousin brought homemade hamburger buns to a family picnic that I missed. My mom was intrigued that my cousin made homemade bread.  Questions were discussed. She was told that I had the instruction DVD and ingredients.

Next thing I know I am getting a phone call about making bread. "Nope." I responded, "haven't tried it yet."  My mom asked me to bring all the stuff with me next time I visited her and together we would check it out.  Which I did. My mom always homemade bread growing up and I thought I would be safe to attempt this with her.  We watched the video and found it was quite do-able. So we gave it a shot.  Sure enough, we were able to make 4 loaves in about an hour from start to finish.  And I was hooked.

I didn't have a Bosch, since that seemed like such a grown up kitchen appliance. But now I wanted one. Within a week, I was able to find used one for about 1/3 the cost of a new one.  And I have been making bread ever since. 

Here is the recipe.

10-1/2 cups of bread flour
1/2 cup of sugar
3 TBLS of instant yeast
3 TBLS of liquid  lecithin
1 TBLS salt
4 cups of hot tap water

Mix it for five minutes in a bosch or kitchen aid.  Cut dough into 4 equal parts. Knead a little to get smooth shape. Place in greased bread pan. Let it "rise" (rest) for 25 minutes.  Then bake for 25 minutes at 350*

Sometime I use half bread flour and half wheat flour.  All white and half-and-half are both delicious!  This recipe's bread is a little heavier than tradional homemade bread, but it is still yummy and we love it!!

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