Daily Bread

Do something nice for yourself and make yourself some tasty and healthy bread. Once you have the supplies in, it isn't hard to do.

Ingredients: whole wheat flour, all purpose flour (white, but get the King Arthur whole germ flour if you can find it); molasses; Quaker oats; brown sugar; honey; raisins; an egg; a cup of milk of any degree of fat; raisins and crushed walnuts (optional); a bread pan; a packet of yeast.

Put the yeast in a cup with a half cup of very warm (not quite burning hot) water, and a tablespoon of brown sugar.

Put two cups of oats in a bowl. Pour in just enough boiling water to cover the oats.

Beat an egg in a bowl. Add a cup of milk, a quarter cup of molasses, and a couple tablespoons of honey. Warm it in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, until very warm but not quite hot.

Mix 2 cups of all purpose flour, 2 cups of whole wheat flour, and 2-3 tablespoons of brown sugar in a bowl.

Mix the milk/molasses mixture into the flour. Add the yeast/water mixture. Blend in the oats.

Optional - mix in 3/4 cup of raisins, and/or 1/2 cup crushed walnuts.

Stir in the oats. Add enough flour to make the dough stiff, and hard to blend.

Dump the dough out on a liberally flour'ed cutting board. Knead in additional flower until the dough stops sticking to your fingers. Just keep rolling the dough over on itself, bending it and crushing it down.

Put the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover it with a clean kitchen towel and let it sit until it has doubled in size.

Knead it down for 4-5 minutes, again on the cutting board.

Oil the bread pan. Put the dough inside, and spread it out to the edges.

Cover the bread with the towel and let it sit until it has nearly doubled in size.

Cook it at 375 for about 40-45 minutes. When you tap the top, it should make a hollow sound.

And that's all. Not too shabby, and you'll notice the ingredients are pretty healthy for you. With the raisins it's a good breakfast & snack bread. With the walnuts or plain, it's excellent in sandwiches.