Lisa, I was just going to mention those perfect slices too, mine are never that even, plus the end piece is always gone, that I cut off and eat it while it's still hot. I grew up on Farmhouse White, it was our "every day" bread, although in the summer we had a much richer bread full of eggs and milk to use up all the excess eggs. I like bread far more than is good for me, but I just keep baking it. I don't have kids at home to eat it up, so I give it to Amanda, to Elery, to my boss, LOL, and then I bake some more. Yours looks delicious. Annie

LOL, Teresa, you and me. I made my first loaf when I was 7, in the kitchen with Grandma. Let's see, that was 46 years ago.... Everything was mixed and kneaded by hand, but now I just toss everything into the bread machine then bake it in the oven. Somehow, I don't think Grandma would mind, and I still use her recipe. It's just as good as ever. Terri, I made the cheddar beer bread for today's office potluck, it's soft and good: CHEDDAR BEER BREAD 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer 2 tablespoons margarine 2 tablespoons milk 4 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons salt 2 tablespoons sugar 4 teaspoons yeast 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram 1/2 teaspoon dried basil 8 ounces reduced-fat extra-sharp Cheddar cheese 2 tablespoons margarine, melted Grease two (9x5 inch) loaf pans. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm beer slightly. Stir in milk and 2 tablespoons margarine to melt. Pour contents into bread machine pan. Pour in flour. Make a well in the center of the flour, and sprinkle salt onto one side of the mound that forms. Into the well, pour the sugar and yeast. Sprinkle with pepper, onion, garlic, and herbs. Begin the dough cycle. Meanwhile, slice the cheese into pea-size crumbles. Avoid using shredded cheese, as it may clump. Once the dough forms into a sticky ball, gradually add the cheese crumbles. As the cycle continues and the cheese fully incorporates into the dough, the ball should still be somewhat soft and sticky. If it is too dry, add a bit of milk. When the cycle has completed, punch down the dough, and divide it in half. Place each half into a greased loaf pan, and allow the dough to rise, about 45 to 60 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). When the dough has risen, bake for 1 hour, or until the loaves are golden brown and make a hollow sound when thumped. Immediately turn out onto a cooling rack, and brush with melted margarine. Cool completely before cutting. This recipe came from the Bread Machine cookbook that Momto4kids sent me. In spite of the instructions I used a package of pre shredded cheddar and it wasn't low fat, olive oil instead of butter and some Bud Light that was left from a couple of weeks ago when David was here and they were using the pool. I put the cheese in the machine right along with the beer. It could easily be made by hand too, dump everything in the bowl, mix and then knead, just like any other bread. Oh, and my machine has a pre-heat cycle at the start so I don't warm anything up either. Annie

dang dog indeed. He will be fine... fat but fine. I had a dog who would've eaten the whole loaf plus the bag. This same dog learned how to open cabinets, especially the corner lazy susan cabinet.... he would eat bags of flour, sugar and cake mixes, including the bags and boxes. And he would of course toss the stuff around and grind it into the carpet before totally eating it. I started storing food items in the drawer under the oven and stored my pots and pans in the lazy susan. The oven drawer was too heavy for him open. When he started eating empty tupperware containers, we had to put baby locks on all our cabinets. One reason we adopted crate training, way back then, was to get containment on the obsessive cabinet raider. He was a good dog when supervised.

WOW 4lb loaves!!!!! 2 of them at one time...That must be a monster! LOL Can you just double your recipe? I think the rule of thumb is 2 cups plus dry ingredients per lb. I'd actually make your usual recipes and see where they "fill" the pan too..and then go from there. Here are two recipes I recently tried and LOVE.. You can make them in the bread machine too. My machine broke last week..so I used my mixer and then baked in loaf pan. Country White Bread Large loaf 1 1/3c water 1 1/2t salt 1 1/2T sugar (I used 1 T of blackberry Raw honey) 1/2c barley or oat flour (I used oat this time.) 3 1/2 c bread flour 2t yeast To mix in mixer Heat the water until warm, between 105F-115F; pour into warmed bowl, and add the yeast. Let stand 5 minutes, until the yeast begins to bubble. Add the salt, sugar, barley flour, and half the bread flour. Beat with paddle until smooth. Cover, and let stand 15 minutes. Slowly add the remaining flour, and beat until soft dough forms. Knead the dough in the mixer with the hook, on medium to high speed, adding flour as necessary, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is smooth and springy but still soft to the touch. Remove the dough hook, cover the bowl and let dough rise until doubled, about 1 hour. To Shape and bake in the oven Lightly grease a baking sheet, or cover with parchment paper. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board or lightly oiled surface. Punch the dough down and shape into a round loaf, dusting in on all sides with flour. Place the loaf, with the smooth side up, onto the baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, 45 minutes or so. Preheat oven to 375F. Using a sharp knife or razon slash a 3" circle on the very top of the loaf. Bake 30-35 minutes, until the loaf is golden and a wooden skewer comes out clean and dry. Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack. Light Wheat Brioche Large Loaf 4 large eggs plus water to equal 1 1/3c 2 t salt 2 T sugar 1 c whole wheat 3 c bread flour 3/4c butter, softened 1 1/2 t yeast To mix in mixer Warm the eggs under hot tap water, and crack into measuring cup. Heat the water to 105-115F, and add it to the eggs. Pour the mixture into the warmed mixing bowl, and add the yeast. Let stand 5 minutes, until yeast begins to bubble. Add the salt, sugar, whole wheat, and half the bread flour. Beat well. Cover, and let stand 15 minutes. Slowly add the remaining flour, and beat until soft dough forms.~change to dough hook~ Cut the butter into pieces and add it to the dough. Knead the dough in the mixer with the hook, on medium to high speed, adding flour as necessary, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is smooth and springy but still soft to the touch. Remove the dough hook, cover the bowl and let dough rise until doubled, about 1 hour. To shape and bake in the oven: Lightly grease a fluted brioche pan, a 9" round cake pan or 9x5 loaf pan. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured or oiled surface. For traditional brioche shape, punch the dough down and pinch off one-quarter of the dough. Shape the remaining dough into a round loaf. Place the loaf, smooth side up, in the brioche or cake pan. Make an indentation in the center of the loaf. Form the pinched-off portion into a teardrop shape, and place, pointed side down, into the hole in the loaf. Or press the dough inot the loaf pan. Cover and let rise until doubled about 1- 1 1/2 hours. Preheat oven to 350F. Brush or spray loaf with water. Bake 45-50 minutes, until wooden skewer inserted through the loaf comes out clean. Remove from the pan and cool on wire rack.