Learning to Bake Bread and Some Random Thoughts

Okay, so I don't know how to bake bread. This is absolutely true. I've never baked a loaf of bread the normal way, and even in my bread machine, which I've used about 5 times in 15 years, I've never baked a decent loaf of bread. It just doesn't rise. The taste might be okay but it's almost the height of a cake when I get through with it. I had 2 break machines because my kids are always giving me things like that until I put my foot down and said we have enough. Don't buy us anything else unless we can eat it. So we got Omaha steaks and hams for a while.

Anyway, I thought it was time to dabble in bread making once again since supermarket prices are going out of sight. We don't eat a lot of bread. We love it; it's just that we don't NEED to eat a lot of bread! So I got a bread recipe from a friend of mine and was on the phone all morning asking how to do this or that. And since I keep my house at 68° all year round, I had to turn up the thermostat to 70° thinking that might have been the problem, although, I'm stymied as to how that could be. I think 68° is just fine.

I used powdered eggs since we have them in our food storage and used them recently in a cake. No problem. Cake turned out well, so in order to save Love Bunny's fresh eggs for him I used the powdered ones.

You will notice I'm using a very antique Pyrex bowl that used to be my mother's before she gave it to me. So this bowl is at least 60 years old. I love it and it's the oldest bowl I have.

After mixing the ingredients I let the dough rise until it doubled, or until I thought it was double. I then put them in my bread pans and stuck them in the oven. I tidied up and then called my friend, and she just happened to mention that I had to let them rise in the bread pans. Ooooops! This was after they'd been in the oven for 8 minutes, so she told me to quickly remove them and let it rise until it was just about to the top of the pan and then back them. So far, so good.

Ta-da!! My very first loaves of bread making it by hand, kneading, etc. So they ain't perfect, adjust! I think I'm gonna like this.

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A redhead is a blonde with poor impulse control.
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If your son or daughter tells you, he/she is just a friend, it usually isn't.
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Forbearance isn't one of my virtues. I'm working on it though...slowly.
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I'm sorry to bring this up, but most employee's dress codes now just scream "fashion mistake". When I started in the work field we couldn't even wear pants unless it was a pants suit that the top and bottom matched. I never, ever in my life went to work looking like most sales clerks now. In fact, I don't even go around my house looking like they look now! Dress appropriately, ladies and gents.
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When tasks cannot be partitioned because of sequential constraints, the application of more effort has no effect on the schedule. The bearing of child takes 9 months, no matter how many women are assigned.
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I remember the little things people tell me about their likes and dislikes. I have to be in order to be a gracious hostess. One person might not like spicy things or a certain food so I never serve it to them. I'm very conscientious about that. I truly try to be accommodating to their whims. I leave blankets around in case they're cold in my home so they can cover up. The bathrooms are stocked with extra toothbrushes and nice body washes and shampoos just for their use. I also have things on hand they might prefer if I'm informed of their choices ahead of time. In other words, I truly listen to people. I then store it in my brain for further use. I don't like it when people aren't comfortable in my home. Listen to people and what they are telling you. It helps a lot.
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