Portuguese White Bread

I make a lot of bread. I'm quite averse to paying out the wazoo for bread, only to have one of my overly fussy sons (he knows who he is) to throw it out the day before it gets to its "sell by" date because "It's bad now!" This is one of my favorite sandwich breads. After it's cooled, it slices well, but it remains really soft. The flavor is very mild, so it doesn't change or mask delicate flavors of any sandwich ingredients that might land on your plate. It's also great with soft boiled or sunny side up eggs, especially for someone like my dearly beloved who heaves his bread or toast into his eggs (Gasp! Treason! Those of us who are food segregationalists cannot abide mixing the foods!)

PORTUGUESE WHITE BREAD

1-1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup butter
4 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
4 cups flour
6 tsp. yeast

Add the yeast to the water, then add the rest of the ingredients to the bread machine pan, or add the flour bit by bit to a bowl and stir with a large wooden spoon. Let the bread machine run for 15 minutes; let the dough rest for 15 minutes. Turn into 2 greased and floured bread pans, and let rise about 30 to 45 minutes, until doubled in size. Bake at 350 for 25 to 28 minutes, depending upon how dark you want your crust. Note that I didn't let these loaves rise quite long enough; they could have been fluffier. Nonetheless, they were devoured.

And, to my friend Paula, welcome to the blogosphere. Your chicken soup today looks splendid!