"Self-sufficiency does not mean 'going back' to the acceptance of a lower standard of living. On the contrary, it is the striving for a higher standard of living, for food that is organically grown and good, for the good life in pleasant surroundings... and for the satisfaction that comes from doing difficult and intricate jobs well and successfully." John Seymour ~ Self Sufficiency 2003

Saturday, 2 May 2015

Ma's baking lol

As yesterday was a holiday, we went through to town on Thursday for our weekly shop.  Popping into the co-op - they had my bread maker in stock!!! :)  Even more exciting was the fact that the machine states it's a Mellerware Ma Baker III and it only uses 550 watts!!

 By the time we got home it was too late to start experimenting, so yesterday, being a holiday, the moment seemed opportune.

Choosing from the recipes in the booklet I picked a loaf of brown bread.

 Nervously measuring and filling the baking tin with the ingredients, I hovered, torch in hand (to peek in the view window), for the +/- 3 hours it took to produce.

 kymber asked for pics - so here you go :)
Brown bread all snuggled up in it's towels.
I read that storing homemade bread in a kitchen towel
was best, but the kitchen towels I could find locally were
all so ruddy thin.  So I ended up stitching together
two new hand towels - roughly, for I hate sewing lol 
That yummy, freshly baked bread smell only became obvious to me towards the end of the baking cycle, and then we had the 15 - 30 minute wait for the loaf to cool down before we could taste.

 Conclusion - topped with plain melted butter it was worth every minute of the wait.  And what crispy toast it made to go with our eggs this morning.

 So, with that successful, I decided to go ahead and make the banana loaf.
Banana bread à la Ma Baker.  The recipe didn't ask
for the paddle to be removed, so I left it in.  Thus
the visible gouge out of the bottom of the banana
bread on the left hand side.
Next time I'll remove it before it bakes...
That turned out OK too - but the consistency was more like bread than the cake-like textured banana bread that I'm used to so I was a little disappointed.  So I'm going to try it again, but this time I'm going to add more banana's and cook it on the cake setting - without the paddle in place.

 As most of the brown loaf is gone, I'll be making a french loaf tomorrow... :)

 Chickpea - you mentioned gluten free bread - yup, it cooks that too.  Here are a couple of the recipes that come with the machine for you to peruse...
  
Chickpea - click on each of the two images to enlarge

 Does anyone have a favourite bread recipe from their bread machine?  And, does anyone know if you can cook RMan's favourite rye bread in a bread machine?

 P.S.  Only found out this evening - I am a very happy and proud Royalist today.  Welcome to the Princess of Cambridge.  I'm betting on Alexandra, with her second name being Diana.  May she bring much joy to her family.
Posted by Dani at 15:42:00
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10 comments:

  1. DFW2 May 2015 at 16:37

    I know nothing about bread machines but just looking at your pics makes me want to get one! Also makes me wish we could bottle that smell.

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    Replies
    1. Dani2 May 2015 at 16:56

      Dallas - Now THAT is a brilliant idea!!! Bottled fresh bread smell... :)

      Delete
  2. Chickpea2 May 2015 at 17:29

    Now thats spooky! I have just hand made some gluten free bread, first time for ages. I will check out the machine thank Dani :)

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  3. kymber2 May 2015 at 17:35

    Dani - both of your breads look beautiful! and yes, keep fresh made bread in a thick towel - it keeps longer! thanks for sharing the pics and i can't wait to see how the french bread works out! glad that you are enjoying your machine!

    your friend,
    kymber

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  4. Sue2 May 2015 at 22:24

    I've never used a bread machine.. If you make french bread, is it just shaped like a regular loaf?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dani3 May 2015 at 14:17

      Sue - Yes, it will take on a normal bread machine shape, unless you allow the machine to mix the dough, and then cook it in an electric / wood fired stove oven.

      Delete
  5. Harry Flashman4 May 2015 at 22:19

    That bread looks yummy. We buy loaves of French Bread at Walmart, $1.00 for a fresh loaf or .60 for a day old loaf. I asked my wife about baking us some bread this weekend, but she wanted me to help clean up if we did that and it's really messy, so I had to stick to Walmart bread! :-(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dani5 May 2015 at 09:50

      Harry - Awww - c'mon, a loaf of freshly baked homemade bread is worth the mess - plus you get to smell it as it's baking which encourages tummy grumbles lol

      Delete

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