Bread

I just had to share what I did on Saturday. I've been spring cleaning and Saturday I attacked my kitchen. I deep cleaned and organized just about everything. Now that it's clean it looks bare, I really need to paint and decorate, but that's a whole other story. While I was cleaning I pulled out my bread maker. It was acting funny the last time I used it (about 3 years ago) so I thought I would try making a loaf to see if it was still on the fritz. It is. It isn't kneading the dough. So instead of just throwing the ingredients away I thought I'd try and just make it on my own. I kneaded it for a little while and let it rise. Then I kneaded it again and let it rise again. Then I cooked it @350* for 30 min. It looked and smelled wonderful, but I was nervous to try it. It was by no means the best bread I've ever tasted, but it was still pretty good. I've really wanted to learn how to make bread for a while now and I guess this is a pretty good start.

I got the recipe from my bread maker's user manual

Homestyle White Bread

1 c. 2 Tbsp. water (75*-85* F)

1 Tbsp. butter or margarine, softened

2 Tbsp. Sugar

1 Tbsp. non-fat dry milk powder

1 1/2 tsp. salt

3 c. bread flour (I only had regular)

2 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast

After in sat in my bread maker doing nothing for a half an hour I pulled it out and kneaded it. Then I let it rise for about a half an hour. Then I kneaded it again and let it rise for about an hour before I baked it.

Does any one have any good bread recipes or tips?