Dusted off the old bread machine...

[gcvmom]

and we're making French bread today. husband has been pestering me to do this all summer as a means of cutting costs here and there. difficult child 2 helped me (as best he could) with the measuring, etc. His hands are so shakey from the Depakote But he seemed to enjoy our little moment together, and it was just long enough and novel enough to hold his attention so he could do what needed doing. I even got him to wipe up the mess and put the ingredients away!

So now the machine is in the kitchen mixing away. We should have bread by dinnertime!

 

[susiestar]

Yum. If you go to recipezaar they have a LOT of recipes. You can even find Outback Steakhouse bushman bread. Just toss the ingredients in and let it work. I leave out the food coloring and the bread is still a nice color.

 

[susiestar]

Jessie has LOST the paddle to my brand new bread machine. I could strangle her. We made less than 5 loaves of bread with it!

 

[gcvmom]

Maybe you can order a replacement part! Check the manufacturer's website.

 

[susiestar]

yeah. It will cost her $20. But it won't cost me!!!

 

[KTMom91]

I love my bread machine! Glad difficult child had fun helping you!

 

[ThreeShadows]

You are blessed to have a child who is eager to create food with you. Mine think I'm a bore.

I can't get them interested in things I like. easy child is in choir this year and her teacher wants her to sing alto (she's a soprano), she's very upset. I youtubed Brahms' Alto Rhapsody to introduce her to the voice range. We ended up in a shouting match because "IT'S BORING". I don't understand this generation, when I was growing up I liked to learn from "the elders". Now I feel as if I've been folded and put away, like the quote in "The Yellow Wallpaper".

 

[gcvmom]

He does like to cook. Sometimes he improvises with things and they turn out okay. Sometimes not okay. While I was in Cleveland, he was a bit manic on Sunday night, stayed up all night and baked boxed brownies for me with his own little twist where he added chocolate syrup to the batter. It was fairly tasty, although the texture was a little weird.

The other two aren't quite as adventurous in the kitchen.

Maybe you can find a more contemporary singer to have easy child listen to... Ask her teacher for some suggestions.

 

[timer lady]

I love home made bread - I love my bread machine. For anxiety & stress I like making it by hand.

Hope your turned out well.

Shadows, I loved being in the kitchen with my mom. kt liked it up until a year or so ago. Same with sitting down & doing art together. Think it's an independence thing.

 

[Marguerite]

We keep our bread machine out all the time. I've been making a raisin bread too, we keep it in the freezer and have it toasted. Lovely as a winter treat.

For colour and richness, I often add a raw egg to the liquid allowance. It boosts the protein content of the bread too, a good thing when trying to get more nutrition into a kid who eats bread and little else.

For aspecial treat I sometimes bake brioche using the bread machine to knead the dough. It's a sweet dough mix with some melted butter in it as well as eggs. I tip it out at the second rise stage and divide the mix in two, then put it into two fluted ring moulds. Glaze with beaten egg and bake in a hot oven. Unmould then turn it over. Glaze again (so the fluted part gets a lovely glaze on it) and bake for another 10 mins or so until the glazed side colours up.
I serve it still warm, with jam and whipped cream. It's a lovely afternoon tea treat when ravenous hordes of people arrive who need impressing. They cost a fortune in the shops but are cheap to make. And the smell of them baking is simply fabulous.

You can also use the same dough recipe to make croissants - roll the dough out, spread it with copped chilld butter, fold it up then roll it out again. Fold, roll. Keep it chilled to stop the butter form melting and mixing in. Finally roll it out into a circle, cut the cirle into 8 (pie fashion) and roll each sector up from the outside in, shaping it gently into a crescent shape with the point of the triangle just peeping out from underneath on the inside of the curve. Let them rise in the fridge overnight then bake first thing in the morning.

Yum!

Marg

 

[gcvmom]

Oh thank you for the recipe ideas, Marg! It really is such an easy appliance to use -- I don't know why I haven't taken it out sooner. I'm going to try to make this a more frequent activity... I told difficult child 2 we could make pizza dough for his own custom pizzas. He seemed shocked, and interested!

 

[ctmom05]

I make just about all our bread using my bread machine on the dough cycle; then I take it out, shape by hand, put in loaf pan .. .. .. rise and bake in the regular oven - voila! A loaf of homemade bread costs about $1 to produce, which is a deal in today's market.

I've tried various recipes and have one that is pretty much tried and true. I add an egg to the mix(for texture) and often add slightly different ingredients to give the recipe a delightful twist; such as adobo instead of plain salt or parmesan cheese in place of about 1/4 c of flour.

 

[Abbey]

Please...DO NOT give me your address. If I can think of one major weakness in me, it's fresh baked bread. I look at this machine that H bought awhile back sitting and staring at me on the top of the cupboard. It's everything I can do to resist. Just let me live vicarilously through you.

(ps...enjoy your bread. Get some real butter for a treat.)

Abbey

 

[gcvmom]

Abbey, we're bad 'cuz we use real butter all the time. I just can't stand that margarine.

 

[witzend]

There is no reason to use margarine for anything. When we are trying to be good, we dip a good toothy bread in olive oil.

 

[Abbey]

I don't mind margarine. Just don't mess with my milk. You might lose a limb over that. I know which manufacturers have alfalpha fed cows and which do not. There is a definite difference in taste.

H works in a frozen/dairy department and has taken a liking to buying real butter when it goes on sale. Honestly...I don't notice the difference. I don't like that stuff in a tub, but sticks of margarine work just fine. It cooks well, doesn't make the pan stick and can make a good piece of toast.

Witz - I use olive oil A LOT. But, it's so expensive. I always wondered about the 'extra virgin' kind. Hmmm... How can you be an extra virgin?

Now...where is my fresh bread?

Abbey

 

[gcvmom]

Now...where is my fresh bread?

(Burp!) Ate it!

 

[ctmom05]

Potluck at my house - I'll make the bread !

 

[Abbey]

(Burp!) Ate it!

Darn it all.