Many years ago I used to make my own bread by hand, I enjoyed mixing and kneading and all. My mother made our bread when I was a child, so it wasn't a foreign activity to me. In the early 1990s my father got himself a bread machine and called to ask for my favorite recipe, a mix of white and whole wheat flour. I figured out how much flour for his machine and that was the end of that call. But a few days later a large box arrived and there was a bread machine.

We thought it was pretty silly, but I made a loaf (the Wellbilt machines make a tall round three pound loaf). I called him to tell him that it worked - and commented that we'd have to get used to the shape. My husband and the kids were eating hot bread and butter in the background and they announced "we're used to it!" My machine has a timer on it, so it can be set up with all of the ingredients and you set the timer for when the machine should finish the loaf. I would set it up when I went to bed and the machine would finish the loaf right in time for people getting up in the morning. Waking to the smell of fresh baked bread is wonderful!

I don't like how that loaf dries out, though, so for many years now I've set up that machine with everything and put it on the "manual" setting. It mixes and kneads, and then turns itself off when the dough is at the stage when you can put it in a pan or shape it how you want. I put it in a standard bread pan, let it rise, and bake it.

I make rolls, pizza dough, bread, all sorts of things in there. It's a tool that if you use it well is worthwhile. I have an extra one that came from my dad's house after he died, and I found another, barely if ever used, at a garage sale for $5 - too good to pass up. That one is for whichever of the kids decides they want to have a bread machine.

SRS