Those Bagettes look yummy and easy to make. Thanks for the recipe. My DIL swears by her KA too. I ordered a machine and it should come today! But it was very inexpensive with mostly great reviews. What I like about it is that it matches the kitchen, and doesn't take up a lot of room. Link below. The biggest complaint is it's hard to read the panel because of the yellow background, but I keep my kitchen glasses sitting on the counter at all times. :) Natal, if you're reading this...the machine gives me three choices of crust color. Wouldn't that effect the texture of the bread if I chose a light or dark color? Also, I was looking at the bread mixes on King Arthurs, they have one that is a sugar/cinnamon bread. I read the reviews and no one mentioned adding raisins to it. I love me some raisin bread! Is it okay to add raisins to a mix like that? Here is a link that might be useful: Bread Machine

hm....to tell the truth I have never checked the temp of my starter or my oven with/without the light or my bread dough or the starter as I was getting it going ! My house is 68 all winter and then in the Summer we keep the thermostat on 78. Whatever time of year it is all seems to do just fine. I have never made an exception for my bread dough other than to place it in the oven with the door propped open with an oven mitt. That is how it is today with the dough I am currently making. It has to rest at "room " temp for 3 hrs...with stretch and folds every 30 min for the first 2 hrs and then leave it alone for one hour. Then shape and let rise one hour at room temp then retard overnight and bake direct from fridge in 500 degree pre-heated pots tomorrow. I just checked my oven temp with the light on and it is 73. That is where I do my apple yeast water and my starter after I feed it and that is where my first and only , current , stater got going. One of the things they caution is not to over feed your starter...as in until it doubles don't feed again. I followed the method I linked 4 yrs ago and didn't have a problem. I know others on the Fresh Loaf have had to try about 3-4 times to get one going. I used rye flour from my local health food store and bottled water ( that is important when getting it started) and King Arthur white AP flour. It could be that is the problem with your first starter is over feeding. As to the second starter I wouldn't worry at all about "bad" stuff growing at this point. The tiny bubbles and concept of "bad" are not a problem at this point. Simply carry on and move it to a slightly cooler place and feed/discard and definitely stir well and give it air via a loose cover. It should be fine. As to the other one after 6 days if it has bubbles and has a fine odor I sure wouldn't discard it either. I would take out half and feed it and leave it where it is about 75 for 24 hrs and see what is what. As to apple yeast water just chop up 100g of apple and put it in the quart jar with 2/3 full filtered water...it does love the 80's so use your oven with light. Stir very well every couple hours all during the day for 3 days - 4 days. It is ready to rise bread. The apples will always float and the water will be VERY fizzy ! You can hear it ! It does need a lot of attn and warmth the first 3-4 days and then it is completely care free and can be in the fridge for weeks at a time and not used. Once you get your other starter going....and I do urge you to go to TFL and read some of the discussions on getting a starter going...I will tell you how to store it when not in use for lengths of time...when I am gone on a bicycle tour I leave mine unattended in the fridge for months. Keep us posted. c http://www.thefreshloaf.com/search/node/debra%20wink%20starting%20a%20sour%20dough%20starter read the first two articles by Debra Wink...linked above and then the link below...you will know more than I do when done :) Debra's way always works !! c Here is a link that might be useful: TFL...link to a lot of discussions

Zojirushi makes two sizes in bread machines. The large one does bake a horizontal loaf and is an excellent machine. But, like many of the others here, I used it most for the dough cycle and then shaped and baked the bread in my regular oven. The large machine is large and expensive. It takes up a lot of counter space and it heavy, so moving it in and out of a cabinet would be awkward. I had this machine for a while. But, we are empty nesters moving to a condo, and I could not justify the space for this machine. I purchased the smaller mini ZO, which makes a 1# loaf or up to 1.5# of dough, and it is wonderful. It has some features not available on the big Zo-- the french bread cycle kneads and bakes a perfect "crusty" small loaf, just right for 2 to 4 people. And I really like the dough cycle. Just last week, I made two loaves of semolina foccacia for a dinner party. I made them one at a time on the dough cycle, the first one shaped and baked while the second was kneading. Still left me lots of free time for other stuff and I had two gorgeous fresh loaves of bread for a large gathering. I keep my small Zo inside a lower cabinet and it lifts out easily with its attached handle. The footprint is small. If you read the ratings on Amazon, there are some complaints about the large ZO, but ratings for the small ZO are 100%. My only concern, not a complaint, is that when it was kneading the semolina dough which was very stiff, the machine did walk a bit. So, I keep it well back from the counter edge. (My KA mixer has done the same thing.) The mini Zo had no trouble kneading the stiff dough, nor did it overheat. Either Zo is wonderful, so it depends on your "kneads" ;-) and available space.

I never cared for her. In case you ever want to make the mash recipe: FULL RECIPE, THEN DIVIDE BY 8 FOR 1/8 RECIPE 1/2 cup dry black-eyed peas 1/2 cup dry pinto beans 1/2 cup dry kidney beans 1/2 cup dry split peas - a mix of green and yellow 1/2 cup dry garbanzo beans 1/2 cup dry black beans 1/2 cup dry soy beans 1 cup dry great northern white beans 1/2 cup dry wheat berry grain 1/2 cup dry pearl barley grain 1 cup dry wild rice Rinse the beans, grains and rice, then soak them overnight (8 hours or so) in a large pot, covered with about an inch of water. Do not change the water before cooking as you want to retain as many of the nutrients as possible. In the morning add or remove water as needed to cover the mixture with about one inch of water. Bring the water to a full boil and boil for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover the pot, continue to cook for 20 minutes more. Ideally there will be just enough water to cook the beans, with very little extra. 3 medium sweet potatoes 4 medium white potatoes Scrub, quarter and then slice these into 1/8 inch slices. Then steam these lightly in a steamer, stirring every few minutes to cook them evenly. 3 pounds frozen corn 3 pounds frozen peas 3 pounds frozen carrots 3 pounds frozen green beans I add these to the hot beans and potatoes. It cools them off and stops the cooking process while barely thawing the vegetables. I like to cut the carrots up a bit, just because my birds prefer the different shapes and I think that they tend to be a bit large most of the time. 1/2 pound fresh parsley 3 medium zucchini 4 large tomatoes 1/2 pound of mustard greens 6 large bananas 6 medium apples 4 peeled oranges 1/2 cup cranberries (fresh or frozen) 1 mango (peeled and pitted) 2 papayas (peeled, leave the seeds in) 1-1/2 pounds of green grapes I run these items through a food processor to chop them a little. Do not process them too fine, the birds prefer the chunks of things. An alternative Is to slice them up by hand (this will add more time to making the mash). 1/4 cup dried pumpkin seeds 1/4 cup sesame seeds 1/4 cup dry powdered kelp 1/4 cup alfalfa powder These things I just put in whole (or powdered as the case may be). I mix this all together thoroughly and then freeze it in sandwich bags in daily serving portions. I take one bag out of the freezer and thaw it in the refrigerator for 24 hours, and serve it the next day. I do not recommend the use a microwave to thaw or warm this mash, as this may destroy valuable nutrients and according to some researchers it can also change the molecular structure of the foods. I�m not sure if it does or not, but it�s easy enough to avoid nuking these foods. You can warm it by placing it in warm water. Posted by: "Adrianne" : 2 - 3 rinses before the initial overnight soak. Keeps the water clearer, removes toxins that the legumes produce as they soak/germinate and increases digestability. I also do not use red kidney beans, and have cut back on the black beans as well, as they are more difficult to digest. I use navy beans for the white beans and substitute adzuke (also called aduki or azuke) beans, mung beans and lentils, as they are much easier to digest.