Adventures in Breadmaking

I've been trying to learn to make bread for the longest time. It never seemed to come out right. I was always interested in learning but I do admit, my interest peaked when blogger, Marmota, talked about bread in the Czech Republic and how much she missed it when she visited America.

 She referred to the"white, tasteless sponge that the Western world calls 'bread.'" The more I thought about it, the more I agreed that American white bread is severely underwhelming and sort of tastes like white glue.  It is very rare in the US for people to make their own bread or to buy anything other than a prepackaged loaf full of preservatives and who-knows-what. I am slowly trying to move away from pre-made foods and transfer to raw ingredients and homemade food. I developed a lot of bad eating habits in college due to time constraints and stress.

I eventually want to learn to make artisan loaves but I thought a good place to start would be to use a bread maker and work up to formed loaves.

As it's been on the list of things to do for a few years, Andy and I finally went out and bought a bread maker at a thrift store and had a ton of fun learning to use it. I hope to use it more often and if anyone has some good recipes to try, please leave me a comment.

Potato Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

-2 Cups cooked, mashed Potatoes
-1/2 cup Water from cooking the potatoes
-1/2 cup Milk + more for glazing
-2 Tablespoons Sunflower Oil
-4 1/2 Cups Unbleached White Bread Flour
-1 1/2 Teaspoons Salt
-2 Teaspoons Sugar
-1 1/2 Teaspoons Yeast

The ingredients were placed in the bread maker according to the maker's instructions, which simply enough involved keeping the yeast, sugar and oil separate from each other. At about 20 minutes before the loaf was finished, we glazed the top of the loaf with extra milk using a pastry brush.  The bread maker took care of the rest and out popped a delicious loaf.

I'd like to learn more about converting bread machine recipes to oven baked ones. I really hope to find a very yummy whole wheat sandwich loaf. For those of you interested in purchasing a bread maker, they really are handy.

Secret Life of Bloggers Blogparty: Post 10

Whew! Post 10 already! That makes 42 to go! This project always helps me see new things.This week there has been a lot of sunsets and food. The few nice days have been amazing but we are waiting for one more inch of snow. I'm sick again. It's horrible. I've never been thick sick so frequently ever before. I think it's a mix of the cold and spending a lot of time at work and not getting enough sleep. 

3-2-14

3-3-14

Cupcake photo shoot for a contest at work. The entry was not mine, but my boss'. I just styled and took the photo. This is a cannoli cupcake with whipped cream topping, topped with a canoli and chocolate chips. The cupcake itself is filled with cannoli filling.


3-4-14

Made fastnaughts (potato doughnuts). The cutest little lady at work asked me about them because she said they were a childhood memory when she went to a Moravian school and all of the young girls made these.   


3-5-14

Finally getting serious about learning bread making at home.

3-6-14

At 6 am, helped a man who slipped in the dark on the highway and walked quite far to find someone who was around and could speak English to call for help.

3-7-14

Went to an art show. Didn't have a chance to put any of my own work in though. It was still fun and I got to see a lot of people I haven't seen in awhile due to work.

3-8-14

 

This photo is a slight cheat. It was actually taken on Friday but I liked both the images so much that I couldn't pick. 

3-9-14 

Daylight's Savings time has given me more time to see the sunsets.

Secret Life of Bloggers Blogparty : Post 9

Another snow filled month finished! I'm excited to see people out of their homes again. I've been working so much I can't wait to catch up with everyone and reading everyone's blogs. I've been trying to sit down and write some history posts. I have a lot to write about but need a little encouragement.

I know a lot of people have been suffering from the bleak winter we've been having. We've been feeling unproductive and lethargic, too cold and weak and sick to do anything. Fight the urge to do nothing.   
 
2-23-14

My coworker left a huge knife in a large mixing bowl full of soapy water. I know they say that no man was ever killed while doing the dishes, but women might be a different story.

2-24-14

I'm taking dance a lot more seriously this year. I used to dance a lot and then got hurt and stopped. But I miss it and can't wait to get back into it. I got a very fun dance costume package in the mail and am very excited.

2-25-14

Fooling with icing.

2-26-14

A pipe at work sprung a leak and I got to help bail water. I told them not to tell me what kind of pipe it was. I still don't want to know.

2-27-14

 Sometimes the sunset it so pretty I have to try and capture it, even if it is only with my phone.


2-28-14

Baking tons and tons of King Cake for Mardi Gras. I do not celebrate Mardi Gras but apparently a toy baby gets inserted into the cake and during the celebrations, the person who gets the slice with the toy has to buy the King Cake for the next year.  

3-1-14

Sometimes I wake up and wish I could leave my hair unbrushed. Sometimes the curls look cute, but I have to brush them out because I feel weird if I don't brush my hair.
 

Civil War Trust Park Day, 2014

 
For everyone who hasn't heard, April 5 will be this year's CWT Park Day. Park Day is an open call for volunteers to help preserve and maintain Civil War battlefields. Park Day has been hosted since 1996 and is a great day to give back while spending the day at a historic site.


This is a great chance to get to spend the day at big Civil War sites like Gettysburg or Antietam but also to visit smaller and little known sites. Each site has its own list of tasks for volunteers. Some of the cemeteries and battlefields just need general landscape maintenance other sites need help with organizing, record keeping or restoration.  

To see the full list of sites that are looking for volunteers: Click here.

To register your site to be included for Park Day: Click here.

I'm always interested in hearing who is going where? Does anyone have any plans for Park Day?

Secret Life of Bloggers Blog Party: Post 8

These days have been flying past. I do not know if they normally move this fast or if I am just more aware of it now that I am spending more time documenting each day.  February has been miserable. We are all stuck in the house, even more so than usual.We had a couple of very nice days lately but I hear there is snow on the way.

12-15-14

Had a good reading night. Sherlock Holmes.


12-16-14

During a short power outage at work, we taught people how to decorate cakes in the dark.

12-17-14

Too much work. Too little pay. :(

12-18-14

Abstract. 


12-19-14

My friend always has a way of disappearing at dinner.

12-20-2014

Experimented with infrared photography.

12-21-2014

Today we had rain and not snow. It was a lovely change, but there was so much fog it was hard to see 10 feet in front of us. Being so foggy, it was a slow day at work and I got to really clean. I had been meaning to do this for a long while.

2-22-14

  Remnants of fall.

I can't wait for March. I want to be outside and to enjoy nice days, nature and summer clothes.