Jannie,
This is a recipe for French Bread that I make at least twice a month, and double it! It also makes nice rolls. I use dry active yeast, and buy it in 1 lb. packages. The same thing is in those yellow and red Fleischmann's yeast packets, but the trick is to use a full tablespoon of yeast in this recipe.

French Country Bread

1 tblsp. dry yeast
1 T. sugar
1 1/2 c. warm water (110 degrees or thereabouts)
1 tblsp. lard or margarine (I prefer lard)
4 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. salt

In a large mixing bowl, put all the dry ingredients (flour, yeast, salt, sugar) and mix with a wooden spoon. With your fingers, rub in the lard or margarine until there are no large pieces left and you can't find a piece of lard or margarine bigger than a pea. Add the warm water and mix thoroughly until the dough forms a soft ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
On a floured surface, preferably wood, knead until the dough is firm and elastic, and no longer sticky (you may have to flour your board several times during kneading). Shape into a ball and place in a large greased bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm spot until doubled, about an hour.
Turn the risen dough onto the floured surface and divide dough into two pieces (or golf-ball size pieces for rolls) and shape the dough halves into two long skinny loaves. Place on a cookie sheet liberally dusted with yellow cornmeal and slash tops about 1/2" deep with a sharp knife (do this for rolls, also). Cover with damp cloth and let rise until doubled, 20-30 minutes. Bake at 375 for 35 minutes for loaves, 15-20 for rolls. For a crisp crust, put a pan of boiling water on the lowest shelf of the oven during baking.
Your baking time may differ from mine, depending on your oven. You can tell that the bread is done when it develops a nice brown crust and sounds hollow when you rap it lightly while still in the oven.
This is one great bread, and I'm sure your family will tell you belong on "The World's Great Chefs" after you serve it!

This is a French bread recipe I found the other day. We like our bread very fresh, so what I did, was I divided the dough into three portions, shaped the three loaves and froze two to bake later. It was delicious. I also have a dinner roll recipe that everyone loves. I will post it later.

P.S. Don't forget to throw ice cubes on the bottom of the oven to produce the steam that gives French bread it's crustiness.

Here is a link that might be useful: French bread

I have a very fool proof loaf you can make. It tastes great & very easy. Its called Rhodes bread. Its found in the frozen section at the grocery store. I recently tried it and its wonderful, just like homemade. You get 3 loaves its about $3.00 or less. Just defrost it, let it rise then bake it. They have all sorts of breads if you can find them. Walmart sells the white bread, I haven't found wheat yet.
If you have a bread machine I do have a great recipe for Raisin bread and honey wheat rolls. Let me know if you want it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rhodes bread

The King Arthur Flour website has great recipes. Check out the blog for super detailed instructions. I would use the SAF yeast they sell.

Thanks, everyone, I'll give them all a try!

I have a great French Bread recipe using the food processor.
I make a loaf every week.
Let me know if you want the recipe.

True story about the King Arthur site. I love it.

I'd like the french bread recipe Carol.

Carol, I'd like the recipe, too. Could you please post it for all of us? Thanks!

Here it is with my changes.....we really like it.
It is a large loaf.
French Bread- from Food Processor Bread Book by the Editors of Consumer Guide

3/4- 1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F.)
1 pkg active dry yeast (1/4 oz or 7 grams)
2 tsp. sugar
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour Spoon into dry measuring cup...do not scoop.
1 Tbsp olive oil or butter (I use olive oil)
1 tsp salt....I use just a little bit more

1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon cornstarch

This is a classic bread with the moist, chewy interior and the crisp crusty exterior.
For a really crisp crust place a pan of boiling water on the bottom shelf of the oven
while baking. (I just toss in a cup of really hot water in the bottom of the oven
right after I put in the bread.)

1. Combine 1/4 cup warm water, yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve yeast and let
stand until bubbly, about five minutes.
2. Fit processor with steel blade. Measure flour, oil and salt into work bowl.
Process about 10 seconds.
3. Add yeast mixture to flour mixture. Process until blended, about 10 seconds.
4. Turn on processor and very slowly drizzle enough of the remaining water through
the feed tube into flour mixture until dough forms a ball that cleans the sides of the
bowl. Process until ball turns around the bowl about 25 times. Turn off processor
and let dough stand for 1-2 minutes.
5. Turn on processor and gradually drizzle enough remaining warm water to make
dough soft, smooth and satiny but not sticky. You can add more water or more flour
until this occurs. Process until the dough turns around the bowl about 15 times.
6. Turn dough onto lightly greased surface. Shape into a ball and place in a
lightly greased bowl, turning to grease all sides. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let
stand in warm place (85 degrees F.) until doubled....about an hour.
7. Punch down dough. Shape into a 12-14 inch strand. Place diagonally on a large
greased cookie sheet. Cut three slashes about 3 inches long with a very sharp knife
or processor blade. (I do this just before going into the oven.) Cover loosely with
plastic wrap and let stand in warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes.
8. Heat oven to 375 degrees F while dough is rising. Combine water and cornstarch in
a small saucepan (or microwave) and bring to a boil until thickened. Brush hot mixture
over loaf. Bake until golden and loaf sounds hollow when tapped. 35-40 minutes.
9. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on wire rack.

I use a pizza peel sprinkled with cornstarch for the second rising and then slide it on
a baking stone and I heat the oven for about 30 minutes to heat the stone. I have the oven at 425-450
degrees F and bake it for about 20 minutes.

If you want to learn about bread baking check out the link to the cooking forum FAQ Tricia has a 15 part tutorial that will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about making bread.

Claudia

Here is a link that might be useful: Cooking Forum FAQ

I had no idea Tricia bread FAQ was even there! I love baking bread and this is a joy to find. Nothing is as soothing to me as handling bread dough and the satiny feel the dough gets when it all comes together!

deb

Thanks for the link, I didn't know either.

Spoon Rolls

This dough does not have to be kneaded or left to rise. You can bake rolls immediately after mixing, or put the dough in the fridge and bake them later. Bake as few, or as many, rolls as you want every day. It keeps 10 days or so in the fridge.

Spoon Rolls
1 pkg. yeast
2 cups warm water
1/4 cup sugar
4 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shortening
2 eggs

Dissolve yeast in warm water, add the sugar. Set aside until frothy. (Use a glass or plastic bowl.)

In a separate bowl beat the eggs. Add shortening and mix well.

Add the flour and yeasty, sugar water to the egg mixture and stir until well blended. (I use an electric beater.)

Put in large bowl and cover. Keep in refrigerator.

To bake: Put large spoonfuls in greased muffin pan. (I use cupcake liners.) Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

The dough does not have to rise, but put in large enough bowl that the lid does not come off. Keeps in refrigerator 7-10 days.

This dough does not have to be kneaded or left to rise. You can bake rolls immediately after mixing, or put it in the fridge and bake them later.

Yeast is one of the most forgiving ingredients there is--it's almost harder to ruin a loaf of bread than to make it correctly.

As you say you always have problems using yeast, it would be wise to try to determine WHY you've had problems in the past.

You may want to get a thermometer to make sure your water is the right temperature. Yeast is a living being, and needs to be 'babied'. Too cold, it takes a long time to rise, too hot and it will die.

Next, keep in mind that times in bread recipes are just estimates, they're not written in stone. It's more important to read the 'clues'. If the recipe says, "let rise one hour or until doubled in size'--it's MORE important to let the dough rise till it's doubled, even if it takes 1.5 hours or more (or less).

Another thing I'm wondering--since you say this is an ongoing problem--are you using spigot water? In some areas of the country, there are deposits in the water supply that inhibit the growth of yeast. Next time around, try purified water and see if that makes a bit of a difference.

One recipe that I find is super easy, and fool-proof is the NY Times no-knead bread. I've never had a loaf not turn out, and I've followed the recipe as written, as well as making changes in the ingredients and it always turns out beautifully.

this one is my favorite and always works out!

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes
Source: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (Jeff Hertzberg)

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, more for dusting dough
Cornmeal.

1. In a large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).

2. Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks. When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife. Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.

3. Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.

4. Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.

**Yield: 4 loaves.

Variation: If not using stone, stretch rounded dough into oval and place in a greased, nonstick loaf pan. Let rest 40 minutes if fresh, an extra hour if refrigerated. Heat oven to 450 degrees for 5 minutes. Place pan on middle rack.

**I never have gotten 4 loaves out of a batch! Maybe 3 fairly small ones.

I had heard about the NY Times bread recipe when it came out a few years ago, so googled it and found the following:

Recipe: No-Knead Bread

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

From: Newsvine.com, here is a review, by someone, of this recipe:

I pretty much followed the instructions to a "T" with some very minor adjustments stemming from comments that I read in other reviews.

Friday Night, 7:00 PM:
Mixed together bread flour, yeast (Fleischman's rapid rise), salt and water in a non-reactive bowl, covered with plastic wrap and placed the whole kit n' kaboodle in the oven, leaving it there overnight and through the next morning.

Saturday Afternoon, 1:30 PM:
Heavily dusted my work surface with flour, poured the dough onto the surface, heavily dusted the top of the dough with flour, and following Alton Brown's instructions for "punching down" dough, performed the wallet folding pattern three times. I let that rest covered with plastic wrap for fifteen minutes.

Saturday Afternoon, 1:46PM:
I rolled the dough into a "ball", and placed it on a sheet of heavily dusted parchment paper instead of a towel, and let it rise for 2 hours. *Note: the dough didn't really hold a ball shape, but rather looked more like an in-the-dough reincarnation of Jabba-the-Hut. Translated: it was little more than an amorphous blob, which I covered with a towel, nevertheless. I set the timer for two hours, over the course of which the dough spread moreso than rose.

Saturday Afternoon, 3:16 PM:
I placed my 5.5 qt. Le Creuset enamel coated cast iron Dutch Oven in the oven and preheated both to 450-degrees.
Saturday Afternoon, 3:46 PM:
When the timer went off signaling the expiration of the two hours, I carefully removed the very hot Dutch Oven and placed it on the counter. I dumped the dough blob from the parchment paper into the Dutch Oven and wearing oven mitts, covered the pot with aluminum foil, since the metal replacement knob that I ordered to replace the plastic one that came on the dutch oven lid -- and is only rated to 375 degrees -- had not yet arrived in the mail. My preference here would have been to use the lid that came with the pot.

I baked the bread, covered (with foil) for 30 minutes, removed the foil and baked for anther 20. I then removed the pot from the oven and dumped the bread onto a wire rack where I let it cool for one hour before slicing.
The bread turned out great, very crusty, very artisan. I will definitely make it again. The main thing is to remember to start it the night before, else there will not be enough time to develop the glutens and more complex flavors as fully as necessary to make for a great loaf of bread and still get the bread baked at a decent hour.

The recipe can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html

I do the 5 minute artisan bread all the time. I like how I can pull off just enough dough for 2 dinner rolls if that is all I want for our meal. If I have a dozen rolls...well, hubby and I might just eat them all! So 2 or 3 work very well for me. It isn't hard but you just have to have that extra space in your fridge for the container.

Deb

I got this I bet 30 years ago from my DSIL. Made it many times and it always turns out.

No Knead Whole Wheat Bread
7 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 1/2 cups water (total)
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons yeast
2-4 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons molasses

1) Warm flour and salt in oven.
2) Dissolve yeast in 1 cup warn water, add honey, let sit 15-20 minutes.
3) Mix molasses in 1 cup hot water.
4)After 20 minutes waiting on yeast and honey, mix honey and yeast with molasses mixture. Add flour and rest of water. Mix well. Let raise until double in size. Grease 2 large or 3 small loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees 35-40 minutes. Remove from pan when cool enough to handle. Makes a coarse heavy bread.