My New Bread Friend

When Rob and I got engaged nearly three and a half years ago and I was starting to piece together our gift registries, my mom casually suggested I include a breadmaker. I'd never given it much thought, but the vision (what's the future verb of to smell?) of fresh homemade bread seemed like a good idea, so I researched a few different machines and added the Breadman Deluxe to our list. Fast forward to...well...three and a half years later, and today I've finally opened the box of our fancy Breadman! To whomever gave us this lovely gift - apologies I was a little (lot) slow to get started. It's been a busy few years!

Anyway, in addition to being slow to open the box, I also realize I'm about fifteen years late on the whole breadmaker trend in general...especially since now all the of-the-moment folks are going gluten-free. But, back to the running - I'm not afraid of carbs!

And so on to my first go with my new Bread Friend, as I think I'll call her, since I can promise you there are no male bread creators in my kitchen, Anadama Oatmeal Bread. I gathered all my ingredients and carefully followed the instructions, liquids first, dries, yeast last, and whatever you do, don't let the yeast mix with the salt! Check. It took me no more than thirty seconds to figure out BF's computerized display panel, which is pretty good considering she has thirteen different bread settings, plus makes pasta dough and jam, and has various options for different loaf sizes and crust preferences. With a deft poke of her green start button she immediately started humming and mixing. I'm already enthralled! How did she so thoroughly combine all the ingredients, not even leaving a trace of unmixed flour on the side of the pan with just a two inch mixer paddle in the bottom!? Amazing! Her timer tells me it'll be over three hours until my Anadama is done, (but fear not, she does have a 56 min ultra fast wheat option, should I ever be in a pinch for homemade bread in a hurry) and I suspect I may be glued to her viewing window for much of that time. Time to let the dough rise...and for me to attend to the rest of my autumnal supper menu!