The Bread Maker & Homemade Bread

Mmmmmm. The smell of fresh homemade bread fills the air as my body screams in protest to swinging my feet into the chilly morning air, over the end of the bed and into my comfy slippers. I've had this bread maker for two years but have never used it until we moved into our new home. With more counter space it has its own place on the shelf and anytime I want bread, I throw a few ingredients into the bucket that came with the bread maker and presto- hot fresh bread in a few hours!

The best part is I don't have to knead it or let it rise and knead it again etc. Now I know at the end of the world I would have to do the kneading etc. but since I was given the machine as a gift there's no need to let it go to waste. And I learn the ingredients to make different breads. French bread-no problem, rye bread, pumpernickel bread, peanut butter bread and the list goes on. I've also learned I need lots of yeast and flour to make bread everyday. I never would have realized how much ingredients it would take. I mean it's one thing for someone to say store 400 pounds of wheat per person and another thing for you to see the ingredients being used and the supply going down. (No we do not have our supply of wheat yet but we have been looking into a grain mill and trying to find a local place in central New York to buy bulk wheat. If anyone sells this please contact us. My wife is going to ask the Amish next time we go back to the Amish store.)

I recommend if you have a busy life but you need to practice your bread making skills for the end of the world without grocery stores that you do get a bread maker. You can throw the ingredients together in the morning in five minutes and have fresh bread when you arrive home that night. Not only will you learn what ingredients you'll need but you'll be putting together a bread cook book of your favorite recipes. I've been using allrecipes.com. They have some good recipes for bread machines breads and breads made in the oven.

Don't expect to make a perfect loaf of bread, or different kinds of bread without a little skill and know how. There is no reason not to start now to prepare for the future.