Homemade Bread

Some years ago, we got a bread machine and a recipe book on how to make various breads. If you have never had homemade bread, go out today and by a bread machine; you will not regret it. You should also map out a 2 mile route close to your home and start jogging it each day so you can enjoy homemade bread and keep your current waist line.


We have made several different types of bread; Italian, sour dough, cinnamon, ciabatta, etc. But everyone’s favorite is known as potato bread. This recipe is nearly fool proof and often disappears right out of the oven, along with half a stick of butter.

One of the drawbacks to using a bread machine is that the mixing paddle gets baked into the bread and leaves a hole in the bottom when the bread is removed. One day I timed what the bread machine was doing and figured out how to make it by hand. So here is a fool proof recipe for bread and the steps to make it. I recommend that you make two loaves at the same time and give one to a friend. Enjoy!

Recipe for 1 ½ pound loaf

1 ¼ cups warm water
3 tbs butter melted
2 ½ tbs sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbs potato flakes
3 cups bread flour
1 ½ tsp quick yeast

Mix everything together in the order listed, and then:

Knead for 5 minutes (min)
Rest for 5 min
Knead for 20 min
Rest for 30 min (keep dough slightly warm)
Knead for 2 min
Put bread in bread tin, lightly oiled with cooking spray
Allow to rise for 1 hour
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes

Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, remove from the tin, and lightly butter the entire loaf. Best eaten while it’s hot!

Homemade Chili

A man is not a real man until he has come up with his own chili recipe. Or his own steak sauce, or some recipe that he can call his own. At least something beyond scrambled eggs and toast. Here is a fool proof chili recipe that is always a hit at my house. The aroma of meat and garlic in the house will leave no doubt that a man is in the kitchen. It's so good it'd make a rabbit spit in a bulldog's eye!

Ingredients:

1 lb meat
1 green pepper
1 medium onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 medium tomato
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tsp Texas Pete
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tblsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 can kidney beans
1 can chili beans

Instructions:

Sautee peppers, onions, and garlic

Meat: brown hamburger, beef, etc. If using venison, cut into 1/2 inch cubes and brown in grease from 1/4 to 1/2 pound of bacon

Mix everything together, except for the beans. Add 2 cups of water and simmer over medium heat for one hour

Add beans and simmer for an additional 30 minutes

Note:

For a kid friendlier recipe, use 1/2 tblsp of chili powder. To kick it up a notch, use more than a tblsp of chili powder.

Also, try adding corn, okra, or green beans, whatever your favorite vegetable happens to be