the best laid plans.......

of mice and women... often go awry.........

Well... I have always LOVED to bake... bake bread... bake yummy treats..  love it.. my waistline does NOT... so I stopped a lot of the baking. And let's face it, no one wants their oven on here in the AZ heat! hahah

So I had a wild hair yesterday. I really miss baking... and well I thought I would start out to make some homemade wheat bread. We only eat wheat bread in this house... with the occasional splurge of sourdough for a yummy sandwhich treat... So I had to run to the store for ginger-ale... Hank was sick yesterday (puking sick!) and I picked up some fresh yeast (I had all the other ingredients) and I got out the bread maker, dusted it off and WHala.... measured, poured and assembled... there is something I love about making bread by hand... it relaxes me and gives me a sense of a job completed... well, using the bread maker is not making it by hand... but the ingredients are pure (no high fructose corn syrup, and YES it is in wheat bread from the store! check the label)

So, got it all set up. pressed the right buttons... start..........  Then I have a bunch of meetings yesterday back to back... this cycle takes 3 hours.... so when I smell the baking part I go to peak.. ACK!

the dough never fully formed, it was still dry and powdery... no I wonder, did i put in enough water
? did I put in any water.. you know how sometimes when you are doing something your brain goes on auto pilot... and functions while you are a million miles away.. oh wait, does this only happen to me? i hope not! Anyway - UGH -  have to dump it alland start over.

So i find the user guide for the breadmaker online.. as I am sure mine is filed somewhere in oblivion.. I find a recipe for Banana Bread.. which I love to make from scratch... so I try this recipe...  i am salivating at the thought of some delish banana bread - made in the bread maker...

By this time Jeff is home cooking dinner and the dough is looking great - I remembered to check the dough ball this time.. all looks good...! AS we are talking while he is cooking the bake cycle begins... Will and I are playing a dice game at the table while Jeff cooks.. Hank is sicker than a dog (where does this expression come from?) - on the sofa.

I look over and the bread maker is SMOKING.. white smoke is drifting out of the top.. ugh.... I hollar to Jeff, he pulls the plug... the dough had over flown the bread box thing - during the bake cycle and had spilled down over onto the heating elements.. NOT  good smell. We open all the windows.... turn on all the fans.... yuck. I am so bummed... twice now failure.. NOW i am more than determined to make this work and beat the machine! UGH.. it is a sticky goooey mess.. Jeff kindly suggests that I quit for the evening, let the gooey mess dry so it is easier to clean off from inside the machine... I give in... I really want to try again right away to prove to myself I am not an idiot... but I decide to start fresh in the morning!

The image from inside the bread maker is AFTER i scooped out most of the goo....

So, i started fresh this morning. cleaned out the machine (not fun - but a whole lot easier when the goo was hard and could be scraped off)

So far, it looks good.. i will keep a close eye on it... it is a new recipe too.. wheat bread... all wheat flour with some brown sugar... should be yum-o! I will keep ya posted....

Comments

[shay]

Oh, Rach! Poor thing - just wanted some bread...hey, do you add vital wheat gluten to your wheat bread (get it in the baking isle) WHAT A DIFFERENCE -- light and fluffy!

I have never once used my bread machine to bake. I use it to need, mix, rest, but then I transfer it to my bread stonewear to bake in the oven! :)

White smoke is just never a good sign! :)

~S