Bread!

I forgot to send my happy list to myself again, so I'll be doing that entry tomorrow. I really need to add a reminder for that to my work calendar.

So, today I tried a new bread recipe - it's actually Sarah's Mom's recipe, which she was kind enough to give me. Will I break my bad bread streak and have it come out right? We'll soon see!

Okay, let's go through the steps - with pictures!

First, heat 2 cups of milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles.

Then remove the milk from the heat and add 2 T white sugar, 2 t salt, and 1 T shortening. Let the milk cool to lukewarm.

While the milk mixture is cooling, dissolve a packet of yeast in 1/4 cup warm water and let it stand until creamy.

While you wait for the milk mixture to cool and the yeast and water to turn creamy, eat a bowl of Cocoa Krispies. Oh wait - that's not part of the recipe. I just got hungry (I was doing this first thiing in the morning). :)

Combine cooled milk with the yeast and water in a large bowl.

Once you have the liquid mixtures into a large bowl, add 2 cups of bread flour, then add more flour 1/2 cup at a time, until a moderately stiff dough forms.

Which pretty much looks like this.

Here comes the hard part. Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead it until your arms are like limp noodles (or for 8-10 minutes). Ouch. There's nothing like kneading bread to remind me how weak I am.

Once the dough has been nicely kneaded, put it into a lightly oiled bowl, then turn it around so both sides are coated.

Place it in a warm place (in our house, which is kept rather cool this time of year to conserve heating fuel, this means it goes in my oven, which is kept warm by the pilot light) and let it rise until it doubles.

Punch down the dough, and turn it out onto that lightly floured surface once again.

Separate the dough into two fairly equal sized balls. Cover them and let them rest for 10 minutes.

Form the dough balls into loaves, and place them into greased bread pans.

Let the loaves rise. The recipe doesn't say how high to let it go, but about an inch over the top of the pan seems to be a good measurement. Heat the oven to 400 degrees and let them bake for 35 minutes or until the tops are nicely browned.

These were only in the oven about 25 minutes, and they were done - in fact, they could have come out a few minutes earlier, I think - the crusts are a little darker than I might prefer.

And just like that, with a whole lot of work and about half a day's time (no one said baking bread was an easy affair), you have two loaves of homemade, warm bread, begging to be eaten warm and covered in butter. Yum.

So, yes! My bad bread making streak is broken, thanks to Sarah's Mom's recipe. Thanks, Sarah's Mom! (And thanks Sarah, for sharing it with me.)

Here's the complete recipe, in case you want to make this bread yourself (shared with Sarah's permission, who thinks her Mom won't care or even know.) :)

Sarah's Mom's White Bread

2 c. milk, scalded
2 T white sugar
2 t salt
1 T shortening
1 (.25 oz.) package active dry yeast
1/4 c. warm water
6 c. bread four (approximate)

In small saucepan, heat milk until it bubbles. Remove from heat and add the sugar, salt and shortening. Cool to lukewarm. While milk mixture is cooling, dissolve yeast in warm water and let stand until creamy. Combine cooled milk mixture with yeast and water in a large mixing bowl. Stir in 2 cups of flour, then add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time to make a moderately stiff dough (you might not use the whole 6 cups). Knead on a lightly floured surface 8-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat the dough. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until the dough has doubled in volume (about 1 1/4 hours). Lightly grease two pans. Punch down the dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Shape into 2 balls, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Shape dough into 2 loaves and place in pans; let rise until doubled (about 1 hour). Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown.