My new bread machine

I think we may be eating lots of carbs over the next few weeks...

Mostly because I am loving my new bread machine from my mom and dad!  So, before I show you what I've made so far, let me tell you the story of the bread machine.  In early December, I visited my parents to do lots of shopping...my father is still feeling the burn on his credit card.  One of the days, we went to the outlets and stopped in a kitchen store.  There was a floor model bread maker there for a great deal.  My mother had been saying that she wanted one for awhile, so my dad and she bought it.  I was a little frustrated because my parents have this great knack for buying things right before the holidays, leaving their children in a panic figuring out what to get them for a gift!  I proceeded to give my mother a great deal of grief about it over the next few weeks.  Well, much to my surprise, I opened a bread maker from my parents Christmas Eve.  Not just any bread maker, the one my parents had "bought for themselves."  They got me!  I sort of felt like an idiot for making fun of them for the past few weeks.  Oops!

Anyway, I decided to try it out yesterday.  After a few frantic g-chats with my sister-in-law, I finally figured out how to use the thing.  It couldn't be easier!  It even has a feature that you delay making the bread so that it will be warm when you get home from work.  How cool is that?!  You simply layer the ingredients in the machine, press the start button, then walk away.   However, as my sister-in-law pointed out, its not so efficient when you keep staring at the thing, saying "What the (bleep) is it doing now?" 

I decided to stick with the recipes from the manual to start.  The first recipe I flipped to was a Pesto Bread.  I had a little bit of pesto leftover in the fridge and thought I'd use it up.  All I had to do was layer water, olive oil, pesto, sea salt, bread flour, sugar, and yeast into the machine, click on my desire settings and press the start button.  A few hours later, this delicious loaf of bread was ready for the eating!

I chose the 1 lb. loaf option, since it was just Matt and I.  However, if I choose the 2lb. option, does is just make the loaf taller?  I may have to try it out and see...

Can  you see the little bits of basil throughout the bread?  So yummy.

I heated up some leftover marinara sauce last night, and we used it as a dipping sauce for the bread.  This afternoon, during the Eagles game (tear...), I poured some spices and olive oil in a bowl to dip.  Perfection.

This afternoon, I decided to try one of the sweeter recipes.  Cinnamon Swilrl Bread fit the bill (and I had all of the ingredients on hand).  I layered milk, butter, egg, salt, sugar, bread flour, and yeast into the machine and pressed start.  After the last kneading cycle and before the final rise cycle, the machine beeps and indicates that you can add the cinnamon and sugar mixture.  I pulled the dough out of the machine, removed the kneading paddle, rolled out the dough and poured the cinnamon and sugar evenly over it.  Then, I rolled up the dough and put it back in the machine.  An hour later, this lovely loaf appeared....

Looks a lot like the first loaf, until you cut into it...

Scrumptious cinnamon swirls!  It worked!  I don't know why I'm so proud of myself, I didn't really do anything..the machine did!

I can't wait to toast up a slice in the morning for breakfast.

If you've ever thought of making your own bread, invest in one of these puppies.  So easy, and the bread comes out perfect each time.  Expect lots of bread posts from me over the next few months.  I can't wait to try a bunch of different reicpes. I think I may try to make a traditional white bread loaf over the next week.  Perhaps we won't have to buy bread for Matt's sandwhiches anymore :)