Our quest for a Bread Machine

[Andy]

I worked 10:00 to 1:00 today and met difficult child and husband at GodFather's for lunch. difficult child and I then went to Target to check out after Christmas sales.

We met non-easy child diva at the grocery store where we purchased bread flour and yeast. We were determined to get a bread machine somewhere today.

I have a gift certificate for an appliance place so we stopped there first on the off chance they sold bread machines. They did not but difficult child found his dream t.v. there (he is obsessed with t.v.s).

We then went to Fleet Farm. On the way, I called husband who said that the one at Wal-Mart was cheaper. husband likes to go with the least expensive, period. We stopped at Fleet Farm to check out the one difficult child wanted.

As we were leaving Fleet Farm to check out Wal-Mart's (difficult child gave me instructions that I was not to buy the Wal-Mart one based on it being cheaper), I called non-easy child diva to see if she could run home to check the mail because husband was looking for an employee's expense account to process. She was at Wal-Mart! RATS! I told difficult child that I did not want to go there while his sister was there because she would try to make me buy stuff for her.

difficult child said we could get in and out of Wal-Mart without non-easy child diva knowing we were there. O.K. I put on my warrior mom armour. If I ran into her, I would not purchase anything and off to possible battle I went.

difficult child led the way. He told me not to park next to non-easy child diva's vehicle in case she came out and saw we were there. As I walked into Wal-Mart, difficult child said, "Zip up your coat and put up your hood so she will not notice you." O.K. did that - felt I was on a secret spy mission. difficult child lead the way to the bread machines (he said there was no way non-easy child diva would be in the kitchen aisles so once we got there we would be safe.).

We arrived at the machine unnoticed. We soon decided not to get that one and would go back to Fleet Farm. I however wanted to get some laundry detergent (another aisle non-easy child diva would most likely avoid.) and both of us were thirsty so needed a drinks.

difficult child successfully led us to the checkout counter and we were in and out without his sister knowing! Good job super spy difficult child!

Back to Fleet Farm where we purchased a bread machine (Oster).

difficult child rearranged the counter top and I am sure that tomorrow we will have fresh bread for lunch!

So, I did get some input on a previous post - keep yeast away from salt, put yeast close to sugar - I need to go back to that post to read what else there was.

Anyone have any input on how to (and how not to) use/care for bread machines?

p.s. The neighbor girl came over and when non-easy child diva was in the room told me she saw me going into Wal-Mart this afternoon. BUSTED!!!

 

[Jena]

i have no clue about bread machines!! LOL I buy the bread at stop and shop!!

Yet I loved the story behind the bread machine with difficult child giving you a heads up on how to dodge non-easy child diva girl! so cute and funny.

 

[Marguerite]

If you bought a commercial bread mix, there should be instructions with it. For us, our commercial bread mix has everything in it, all we need to add is the year and water. NO need to add salt or sugar. If you do add more, then no harm done really. I often add more salt or more sugar, depending on what special recipe I'm doing.

Congrats on finally getting a bread machine - I found for a while that we were baking an average of a loaf a day. Now I'm no longer eating bread, it's more like a loaf a week. However, I sometimes do special recipes such as brioche; I made four, two each on two consecutive days, over New Year. My nieces love brioche, fresh from the oven, slices and served with jam and cream. I make it by using a bread dough mix that has extra butter, sugar and eggs. Then I divide my dough into two, put each part into a silicone ring mould and let it rise. Then I glaze it with beaten egg and bake it for about two thirds (or more) of the baking time. I unmould it carefully, turn it upside down, brush it with egg again and bake the underside to crisp that up as well.
I cook brioche like this for mother in law when she has relatives coming to visit over the holidays. The relatives like to eat, the Aussie tradition it to make scones (Devonshire tea) and the freshly baked brioche seems even more special (with less effort). Because I bake two, they get to eat their fill on what is basically bread with jam and cream.

Oh yes, and brushing it with egg is optional. But it sure does impress!

Once you get the hang of it, bread baking is fun and easy with a breadh machine.

A useful tip - make sure the water you add is tepid (lukewarm) and not icy cold from the tap. I normally use tap water (certainly OK in summer in Australia) but in winter, tap water is too cold.

I store my bread mix in a special container in my kitchen. It's a big drum with a rightly fitting lid. I now store my spare flour and rice in there too. The bread slicer sits on top.

Have fun playing. When you've mastered the basic loaf, then pick our brains for the fun recipes. No longer do you have to make cakes for a school fete, now you can make buns instead! I've developed a recipe for pizza buns which should go down well for a school party.

Marg

 

[Abbey]

H bought a bread machine after years of begging him not to. It's my one vice that I can't keep away from. I LOVE bread. But, I will say it's wonderful. As far as cleaning, just wipe it out with a damp rag. Don't fill with soapy water, etc.

You can google all kinds of recipies. I do a cinnamon raison bread that is awesome.

I had to chuckle at Fleet Farm. I had never seen one and when H and I went the first time, it took us 45 minutes to find each other. Those places are HUGE!!

Abbey

 

[goldenguru]

I've had a bread machine for about 8 years and LOVE it. Here is my all time favorite bread machine recipe. In the following order in your machine:

1 c. water
3 c. bread flour
2 T. olive oil
1 package dry (Lipton) onion soup mix
2 T. sugar
2 T. Parmesan cheese
2 1/2 t. yeast

Medium setting. Yummy.

 

[trinityroyal]

Andy, I have a delightful image of you and difficult child sneaking through the Wal-Mart like super spies, with Mission Impossible music playing in the background.

Enjoy your bread maker!

Trinity

 

[KTMom91]

I found a bread machine recipe book at Goodwill, and I've gotten several recipes online as well.

Enjoy!

 

[Andy]

This has become a fun adventure.

Marg - I have heard that all ingredients should be room temperature. Our next item to purchase is a bread slicer. We didn't find one at Fleet Farm and with groceries in the car I didn't want to make any more stops. I am sure your brioche was a special treat for your guests. I love fresh bread of any sorts.

Abbey - Fleet Farm here is not very big. When I go with husband, I know I can find him in the Sporting Goods (hunting/fishing) aisles.

Golden - That sounds very delicious.

Trinity - LOL! Yep, I certainly felt like it was mission impossible but we did pull it off and it was kind of fun.

KTmom - I will check out local Goodwill and thrift shops and on-line. Thanks for the tip.

difficult child made his first loaf of bread today. It was a basic white bread and turned out very good. He says he will make crescent rolls tomorrow.

I went out this morning and bought the dry milk that the recipe he was working on today called for.

 

[KTMom91]

I've had good luck substituting the amount of water with milk, rather than buy dry milk. I figured as long as the liquid amount was the same, why not?

 

[Abbey]

Our Fleet Farm is about the size of two Walmarts combined. I couldn't believe it when I went in the first time to get boots. H went to get a long piece of PVC pipe...it's the only way I found him. I eventually saw this piece of pipe sticking in the air.

My daughter thought I was nuts as they call it Farm Fleet in IL. From what I understand, it's two brothers who changed the name.

Abbey

 

[Marguerite]

KTmom, I use fresh milk also. The problem with using fresh milk is really only when you put the recipe on to timer, and the milk risks curdling or going sour before the bread program gets going. For example, if you're making the loaf to be ready when you get home form work, and you put it all together first thing in the morning. The machine won't switch on for about 6 hours, and in that time the fresh milk in it could be very unpleasant. But if you're setting it to operate straight away, fresh milk is perfectly OK.

Marg

 

[Andy]

Abbey, Fleet Farm got its start in Brainerd, MN. I grew up just North of there in the tourist town of Nisswa. My last name was the same as the owners but we were not related. I heard through the grapevine that there was some sort of division in the family so one branch started the Farm Fleet branch.

I remember the original business - very small, dark, dusty!