Bread To Grow On

Our Mom was a good cook. Dad was a meat-and-potatoes kind of eater, but we always had good square meals. She went to work after I became old enough to do the cooking. I don't remember being taught, but I guess I must have helped enough that I caught on. We did the down home style of cooking. Biscuits, gravy, pan fried, and deep fried.

But we, my brothers, sister and myself, knew nothing of bread variety when we were young, other than white bread - which was good, or wheat bread - which was dry. As we grew into our teenaged years, Dad felt he could afford to bring home a loaf of that French bread every now & then. But it was DAD'S BREAD. We still had to eat the plain ol' white bread. Mom had learned by then not to waste money on the wheat bread.

After all, the white bread had IRON, and ESSENTIAL VITAMINS, and BUILDS BODIES 12 DIFFERENT WAYS. Right, but we never knew about the imitation this and preservatives that and Lord knows whatever else. Lists of ingredients and nutrition labels are NOT a thing of the past. We just had to believe that Rainbo Bread was Good Bread.

Cuisinart CBK-100 Programmable Breadmaker

Panasonic SD-YD250 Automatic Bread Maker

Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Home Bakery Supreme 2-Pound-Loaf Breadmaker, Black

Even though breads sold at the grocery stores these days are using ingredients and nutritional labels, they still are using the imitation this and preservatives that and Lord knows whatever else. Some of those words I can't even pronounce correctly.

But, Baby, look at us now. Store-bought white bread is no longer the only good bread in town! Try this Homemade Wheat and Oats Bread recipe for a really great tasting bread. Using a bread machine will save you time and energy for other things.

When my children were babies, Granny (no kin, to us - that was her name as far as we knew), who lived next door, brought some of her homemade hot rolls over now and then. They were HEAVENLY. I HAD to know how to make those. So Granny showed me her secrets and I got to work. That was the beginning of my bread-making days.

Then, like a ray of sunshine, my mother-in-law sent me her bread making machine. OH, HAPPY DAY! Times had changed! It was so easy to make bread with the machine - healthy bread. Absolutely no artificial colors, artificial flavors, or artificial preservatives.

Then, blackness surrounded us again, the bread machine wore out. Nothing to be done but live without homemade goodness again. OR...

...Buy a BRAND SPANKING NEW BREAD MACHINE. Oh, yeah, Baby. Life was worth living again. I call it my Little Sweetie. I've become even more creative than before. I just go crazy and put all kinds of good things in the bread recipes. Having access to the internet has been a life-changer, too. There are so many new bread machine recipes out there and I only have a finite amount of time to try them all.

My Little Sweetie can make up to a two-pound loaf. It will make a smaller size, but I figure if I'm going to do it, I want the big one. It has settings for a different doneness (yes, that's a word, I just wrote it and the computer's spell check didn't kick it out) of the crust - light, medium, dark. In addition to making white bread, it also has a setting for wheat bread, one for cakes, and another for jams and jellies. I haven't tried the cakes or jellies yet, but I intend to do so.

Now my Dear Daughter, being the natural-born homemade bread lover that she is, decided she liked the idea of what I could do with my Little Sweetie bread machine. The only problem being that, as a young family, it just wasn't in the budget. Well, it wasn't really in my budget either, but she had a birthday coming up. Now I'm sure everyone with a Dear Daughter knows how it is when you know she wants something in particular and she has a birthday coming up.

Yes, I bought her a bread machine. But not just any bread machine. I wanted her to have one just like mine. Why? Because I know it's a WINNER. As things usually go, though, this brand and model is no longer in production. I tried a Google search and didn't find one. But, hey, I've been an eBay shopper and seller for a number of years now.

Pamela's Products Wheat-Free & Gluten-Free Bread Mix, 19-Ounce Packages
(Pack of 6)

Progressive International Adjustable Bread Keeper

The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook

So I turn to eBay, hoping to find a Little Sweetie for Darling Daughter. Glory Be - there was ONE. It was on Auction, so I had to wait. I put my bid in and patiently waited for the designated day and time. Finally, four days had passed and it was TIME. I logged in to my eBay account about thirty minutes early to see what had been happening in this particular auction. Nothing yet, but I was concerned, so I raised my top bid a few dollars. At about ten minutes until end time, someone else outbid me! I couldn't believe it! But I knew what to do. (I may have been born yesterday, but I didn't live all night for nothing.) I raised my top bid to a higher amount and sat back, smiling smugly. Hmph! Suddenly, they outbid me again. Okay, I'm going for blood now. We're down to the wire as I put in as much as I could dare to spend and sat back, hopefully. I did it. I won the auction. Now my Darling Daughter would have her bread baking machine.

When I contacted the seller, I told her it was a gift for my daughter. This woman was so nice. She actually enclosed a Happy Birthday card with the machine before she mailed it. Of course this person is on my Favorite Sellers list now.

The great thing about this gift is that now my Darling Daughter's two Darling Children can learn about the wonders of Homemade Bread. From my Dad, to me, to my Children, to my Grandchildren - a legacy of loving good breads. The Little Sweetie Bread Making Machine is definitely playing it's important role in this family saga.