Cookbook Wednesday: Bread

Of course, I'm combing through my cookbooks this week for ideas for Thanksgiving Vacation Cooking.  Yes, that's all capitalized.  Yes, The Cooking is an Event.  Yes, I plan for weeks.  And, yes, I expect to wrap it up by tomorrow morning, so I can order food tomorrow afternoon, take delivery Friday, and let the Cooking Event Begin!

Somewhat over 20 years ago, I bought my first bread machine, when an employee suggested it to me.  It was bulkier than the ones sold today, but it gave me the confidence to learn to make yeast breads.  When faster machines that made bigger loaves came out, I bought one.  I think I've had that one for nearly 15 years now, but it went kaput a couple of weeks ago.  No matter; I'll use the dough hook on my stand mixer.

Anyway, after I'd had that very first bread machine, I found The Bread Machine Cookbook by Donna Rathmell German.  It fell apart about a year ago.  Oh, let's be fair; it's been falling apart for years now, but having more than half the pages loose, and the back cover disconnected, made me need to find a solution: the 3-hole punch and mini binder!

 This book has recipes for white, wheat and specialty breads, along with recipes I found elsewhere and scrawled in here so I could find them again "some day",

 

sourdough breads, including instruction on making your own starter,

sweet breads,

and using the bread machine to make dough, to be formed into different things.

This book enabled me to figure out the formula for bread (1-1/2 cups liquid, 1 or 2 tbsp yeast, 4 cups flour, 1 tsp or more salt, plus sugar, fats, eggs or whatever for flavor and texture).  And nowadays, I really just use my bread machine as an enclosed mixer, so its lack really doesn't harm my bread making efforts.

Click on the "breads" category to the right to see some of my past creations from this (and other) cookbooks.  Now I have to decide what breads I'll be serving during the next 2 weeks!

I'm linking this up to Louise's Cookbook Wednesday; go check out some of her other contributors!  Happy Wednesday, everyone!