Give us this day our daily doorstop

I did not buy a bread machine yesterday.  I looked at some online and got freaked out by the prices.  I looked at one at Walmart and it was affordable but I thought I'd better research it to see if it's a decent one first.  Which I will definitely be doing soon after last night's experience.

The kids and I decided to make bread by hand.  It was fun.  Sierra started us off with measuring, mixing, and kneading.

Jeremiah helped with kneading as well.



I kneaded, too, but I wasn't about to let kids with flour on their hands use my camera.  So no photos of me today.  I'm sure you're all disappointed.

Later we let the dough rise.  Then we shaped the loaves.  I think this is where we may have hit the snag.  I'm pretty sure we didn't let the dough rise long enough first time.  I know better.  I also read in my faithful Make Your Own Bread Book the warning "if you skimp on the first rise your loaves will be heavy and good for bricks or doorstops only."  My Make Your Own Bread book is a paperback I've had forever.  It tells the truth.  The title is spelled out with loaves of bread forming the letters.  My copy is well-used, and looks about like the Betty Crocker cookbook I so lovingly photographed for you, my Gentle Readers, in an earlier blog. 

Another possible place we went wrong is that the yeast may have been too old.  It wasn't past it's date, but the date is next month.  I don't think I've ever used yeast that wasn't good for another year or two, so perhaps it wasn't just the kids wanting to eat fresh bread so badly that we didn't let it rise long enough.  It may have been a combination of bad choices.  In any event...

Here is what our bread looked like coming out of the oven.  Sierra and I ate some anyway, mostly as a vehicle to eat some real butter which we both love.  Jeremiah was off with his dad, so didn't get to experience the warm melted butter on hot doorstops. 

The loaves are still here this morning.  Sierra has been talking about building a brick playhouse in the back yard, but we haven't been able to afford her materials.  This may be the start of the New and Improved Snack Shack!

I think I'll use the money we save on building materials to buy a bread machine.