The only problem I can think of is adding too much of any salty add-ins (olives, cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, cooked whole grains that have salt added to the cooking water, etc.), but that goes for all yeast breads. The additional salt can kill the yeast. Use olives as an add-in when you are forming the dough for a loaf, not mixed IN the dough when you make it. There is information for OLIVE BREAD in "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day". Use any of the pre-mixed doughs: Boule (page 26), European Peasant (page 46, Olive oil (page 134), Light Whole Wheat (page 74), or Italian Semolina (page 80) 1-pound (grapefruit-size portion) of any pre-mixed dough listed above 1/4 c. high-quality olives, pitted and halved Cornstarch wash 1. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a grapefruit-sice piece. Using your hands and a rolling pin, flatten the dough to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Cover with the olives and roll up to seal inside the dough. Dust with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Allow to rest and rise on a cornmeal-covered pizza peel for 1-hour. 2. Twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 450-degrees F., with a baking stone placed on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray on any other shelf that won't interfere with the rising bread. 3. Just before baking, paint the surface of the loaf with cornstarch wash, then slash a cross, "scallop," or tic-tac-toe pattern into the top, using a serrated bread knife. 4. Slide the loaf directly onto the hot stone. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray, and quickly close the oven door. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the top crust is deeply browned and very firm. 5. Allow to cool on a rack before slicing or eating. -Grainlady

Linda- There is a Buttermilk Bread recipe in "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" that may work for you. -Grainlady Makes three 1-1/2-pound loaves and the recipe can easily be doubled or halved. 2 c. lukewarm water 1 c. buttermilk 1-1/2 T. granulated yeast (1 and 1/2 packets) 1-1/2 T. salt 1-1/2 T. sugar 6-1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour Butter or neutral-tasting oil for greasing the pan. 1. Mixing and storing the dough: Mix the yeast, salt, and sugar with the water and buttermilk in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container. 2. Mix in the flour without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with a dough hook). If you're not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour. 3. Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2-hours. 4. The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 7 days. 5. On baking day, lightly grease a 9x4x3-inch nonstick loaf pan. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-1/2 pound (cantaloupe-size) piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Elongate the ball into an oval. 6. Drop the dough into the prepared pan. You want to fill the pan slightly more than half-full. 7. Allow the dough to rest for 1-hour and 40-minutes (or just 40-minutes if you are using fresh, unrefrigerated dough). Dust the loaf with flour and slash the top, using the tip of a sharp knife. Brush the top surface with melted butter. 8. Twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350-degrees F. If you're not using a stone in the oven, 5-minutes is adequate. A baking stone is not essential when using a loaf pan. 9. Bake the bread near the center of the oven for about 45-minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the pan. Allow to cool completely before slicing, or it will be nearly impossible to achieve reasonable sandwich slices.

bbstx, don't give up. I did make the no-knead bread (twice, in fact) and just wasn't impressed with flavor or texture, so I went back to traditional bread, but a lot of people love it. I never tried it with beer, that might make a difference in flavor. I don't use a scale for anything, I learned to bake bread by "feel". Even in the bread machine, I'll measure ingredients according to the recipe and then check the dough. Sometimes it needs more flour, sometimes more liquid, depending on the flour, the humidity, many factors. I just made breadsticks last night from a King Arthur recipe which is usually pretty much "right on" and had to add nearly 1/2 cup of water because it was too crumbly. I'm blaming the Gold Medal bread flour I'm stuck with for that. That said, a lot of people use a scale and like that method. I'd still have to check the dough to see if it was "right", LOL, so it would do me no good to weigh the stuff, but if you think that will work for you and you have space to store the thing, I've seen some that weren't too expensive. Annie

Hi all -- Sue -- glad this worked for you. Over at the cooking forum a number of us tried this with somewhat mixed feelings / results. Here are the links to those threads... http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cooking/msg1109390924496.html?62 http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cooking/msg1115070017993.html Emily