Truth be told, my bread machine has every right to harbor ill feelings toward me. Abandonment. Neglect. Alienation of affection. I am guilty of all these and more. I suspect I’m not the only one, but I won’t put anyone on the spot by asking for a show of hands or naming names.
Remember when you would put your ingredients or mix in the bread machine first thing in the morning and when you came at the end of a long day you would have a fresh loaf of bread waiting for you? You could smell the aroma wafting from the kitchen before you even opened your front door. Really, who needs a welcome mat when there’s the smell of fresh bread in the air?
And, remember when you would fire up the bread machine at bedtime and smell the aroma of rising and baking bread throughout the night? Didn’t you sleep a little better knowing there would be fresh bread waiting for you in the morning?
I know there’s a school of thought that decries bread machines as a cheat, not the authentic bread baking experience. I understand that and I enjoyed making bread from scratch, but if it comes down to having freshly baked bread or not, I’ll gladly take the cheaters path with the bread machine.
Forgive my rambling, but this brings me back to my original thought…why did we retire our bread machines in the first place? Why was baking bread a trend? Really, we always need bread. Bread never goes out of style (okay, maybe it fell from grace during the height of the no carb craze, but really, bread is forever). Think of the faces of your love ones when you offer them freshly baked bread. There’s a lot of love in a loaf, my friends.
That’s it, its official. This weekend I’m dusting off my bread machine, making amends and putting it back into service. I don’t know about your grocer, but my preferred neighborhood supermarket stocks just two bread machine mixes these days. However, thank you World Wide Web, there are other options. For one, check out the selection at The Baker’s Catalogue:
http://search.kingarthurflour.com/search.jsp?N=0&rt=p&Ntt=bread+machine+mixes
Give your bread machine another try. When the dust settles, you’ll be glad you did.
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2 comments:
There is ABSOLUTELY nothing better than fresh warm bread! In fact, I'd sell my soul for some right now! (Except for the fact that I already sold it for some pizza last week....)
It's amazing the mood that is created by smelling bread baking. When I smell a sweet bread like banana or pumpkin or cinnamon, it makes me want to brew a fresh pot of coffee and cuddle up with a good magazine. On the other hand, the smell of herb bread wafting through the house spurs me on to make all things Italian for supper accompanied by that special bottle of red wine!! Thanks for continuing to inspire us.
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