AM, my Zo has a special setting for quick breads, so I'm assuming it's a quick mix, no rise and a bake cycle. I haven't used it because I just don't bake that many quick breads. I think whether you allow your kids to use an oven and at what age depends on the kids and on your "worry level". I used the stove and oven way before I was 12. Amanda did too, but she was a very responsible and meticulous child. Ashley was/is prone to being distracted. I've come home more than once to find something turning to charcoal in the oven because she forgot it was there and went somewhere with a friend, or (more likely), that she baked something but forgot to turn off the oven and it had been heating, empty, for several hours. sometimes she turns the oven on, gets distracted and decides not to bake, but forgets to turn the oven off. And, because I am a worrier, I worry all afternoon that something is in the oven or on the stove and I'm going to come home to a house full of smoke, which has happened more than once. Anyway, if you have bread machine recipes, I'd try one of those and see how the machine works. I do have a couple of bread machine cookbooks, I can check when I get home tonight. Annie

Teresa, this bread is so good even after making major screw ups. Decided to try it in the bread machine on dough cycle with baking in the oven. Just as I was preparing to drain the fruit and add it, I found out a person I'd contacted about getting some fertile chicken eggs from to set under my broody hen had six for me. Out of show quality roosters and for free. And he said come and get them now. The bell rang for the addition of the drained fruit and nuts. I knew I hadn't drained the fruit enough, but I was in a hurry. Took off and halfway to my destination realized the dough cycle would be over a good while before I'd get back home. Sorry, but I really wanted those special eggs. The guy showed me all his show birds and got a lot of info from him. By the time I got back home I think the dough cycle had been done for two hours. I had a very wet dough that had risen in the pan then collapsed. Oh well, try to save it. Dumped it out on a liberally floured surface and kneaded in more flour, put it in the pans and let it rise. It did rise a little over the top of the pans.Tried my best and stuck it in the oven. It came out at 25 minutes completely done and beautiful except I didn't get the fruit and nuts distributed well. I've already eaten nearly half a loaf. Love it! Next time I think I'll add more cinnamon, follow the recipe on draining the fruit and not running out in the middle of it to get fertile eggs. Madonna

Thanks for the tips! It did double in bulk during the first rise in the machine. It looked great, much better than it looked for the second rise. Then the machine "punched it down" and I took it out (I was using the whole wheat bread cycle). I did the "lift and fold" type kneading a couple of times with just a wee bit of flour and tried to pinch it, but it was definately slack. I put it in the casserole for the second rise--it kinda rose but not very much. I put a wet paper towel over it that kind of stuck to the sticky dough, and when I removed it, it sort of "degassed" the bread and it went "blat." I tried to get it to raise a little more for a while, but by pressing in on the dough I could tell it was starting to get "over proofed" even though it wasn't rising, so I finally just said what the heck and baked it. I may try it again adding the cereal at the beep time. I just couldn't figure it out, because it looked so wonderful during the first rise. I hardly did a thing to it for the second rise and it just pooped out! The bread wasn't streaked, it just looks that way due to my poor camera/lighting, etc. You know back in the day I learned to knead bread until it has the consistency of an earlobe. With these artisan breads it seems more like the consistency of paper mache!

Thank you! I am one of those people who don't measure ingredients when making breads. I always base on the look, touch, and smell... sort of like grandma style, to determine if the food is prepared correctly. For the sourdough, I maintain a high hydration level starter, it's probably about 166% when I make it into a sponge (equal amount of flour and water by volume not by weight). To make two loaves I used: About two cups of that sponge, then added, Flour: roughly 2.5 cups of whole wheat four and 2 - 2.5 cups of unbleached flour. For the liquid, 1 to 1-1/4 Cup of the whey left from making kefir cheese. When I don't have whey, I use just water About three TBSP of vital wheat gluten, 2 TBSP of sugar, 2 TBSP of fat (usually canola oil), 1 tsp of salt, That's what I used for the base. Once I have the dough together, I add the extras: sesame seeds, onion powder, dill weeds, caraway seeds etc depends on my mood. If you don't want to make sourdough, a regular recipe for white loaf will do just fine. The reason I suggest white loaf because the chunks of garlic tend to weight down the loaf a bit more than usual. If you are a true whole wheat lover, expect a bit less volume of your final product. The key of this garlic bread is to prepare the garlic to your liking. I pan "roasted" the garlic in olive oil until golden brown. Added a bit of sea salt to it then let cool. Cut them into chunks then add to the dough right before the final proofing. I would try to keep most of the garlic inside the dough because the garlic exposed to dry heat tends to be dry and a bit bitter. The garlic baked inside the dough is soft and juicy and very tasty. But of course, I always let a few pieces of garlic poke out for the look. :-p For the final touch, I brushed egg white on the crust then sprinkled lots of sesame seeds. Baked in my cold oven at 350F for 50 minutes. Sorry for the non traditional "recipe" but that exactly how I did it.