I made bread!

I love to cook, but I have only made bread a few times. I make some great rolls from scratch at Thanksgiving (I don't know why I don't do it more often!) and I make pizza dough occasionally. I have been so concerned with the high fructose corn syrup you find in ALMOST every loaf of bread in the store that I have been telling everyone to check what you are eating. Someone once told me they heard a doctor say that our bodies know what to do with sugar because it has been around forever, but high fructose corn syrup is new and probably what is causing obesity. It is in everything. So my friend Kristen told me she made bread the other day and it was not too hard. She even made it without a bread machine. And then my niece Gabriella had to make bread for a 4th grade school project, and hers came out good too. So I decided, why not? I found this cookbook that had been my grandmother's called The New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook (this particular copy was copywrited 3 years before I was born!. In it our tons of bread recipes. I choose crusty white bread. You did not even kneed it! It turned out pretty good, I even impressed my mom! :)

5 cups unbleached flour
1 tsp sea salt
1 package dry active yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
1/4 cup olive oil
2/3 cup milk plus 1 tablespoon
1 egg, lightly beaten

Mix the flour and the salt together. In a separate bowl, mix the lukewarm water and the yeast and dissolve the yeast. Add 2/3 cup milk and the oil and stir well.(**I learned one time do not make the water too hot, it kills the yeast!). Combine with the flour mixture. Mix it vigorously until combined. Place in an oiled bowl. Cover and let it rise double. (This takes about 1 1/2 hours). Punch it down and divide it into two halves. Roll each to 1/2 inch thick and then roll into a jelly roll. Leave both on a oiled cookie sheet and let it rise double again (this takes about 30 minutes). Mix beaten egg and 1 tablespoon of milk and brush over the top of the bread. Put a pan of hot water into the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cook at 400 degrees for 15 minutes then lower to 350 degrees for 15 minutes until browned.

When you make it, you can control what is in it! I challenge you t make some bread soon!