In her topic Calendar of Life Sandra I. Smith tells us that January is Bread Machine Baking Month. This certainly seems like an appropriate time to make bread. Here in the Northern Hemisphere January is typically the coldest, harshest month of the year. The days are long, gray and dreary.
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If anything could bring out a smile on such a day it would be the wonderful aroma of fresh baked bread filling your home. Since pre-history the baking of bread has been a necessity. Only in the last 50 years has store bought bread become common enough to nearly do away with home baked bread. But store bought bread will never be able to compete with home made for texture, taste and smell.
Unfortunately, during this same period of time women have taken on more jobs and other activities outside the home. The time consuming task of baking bread was nearly impossible to work into an already full schedule.
Then along came the Bread Machine . Suddenly a busy mother could throw the ingredients for a loaf of bread into a machine in about five minutes, set the controls, and go off to other pursuits. Several hours later the house would be filled with the aroma of fresh baked bread and an oven warm slice could be enjoyed with no additional time or effort being put forth.
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If you are going to buy a bread machine there are a number of points to look at and compare before making your final purchase. Ohio State University Extension has put together a very useful fact sheet to help you make the best decision for you and your family,
Some of the things to consider are: cost, size of the machine, size of loaf, shape of loaf, variety of cycles offered, and any special features. What may be perfect for your best friend or your mother may not be the one most suited to your lifestyle and family size.
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If you are concerned that fresh baked bread won't fit into your low fat or vegetarian diet you can quit worrying. There are a number of recipes around for low fat breads. Here you can find recipes for both low fat and for vegetarian breads.
If you already have a bread machine but are unsure of its capacity Kitchenlink has this information as well as over 4000 recipes and tips. The Oklahoma Wheat Commission, which admits it has an interest in seeing more wheat products used, has some useful tips for getting the most out of your bread machine as well as a yummy sounding recipe for Chocolate-Cinnamon Bread.
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