Hi Mama P! We know each other from the Laundry Forum. Happy that you've joined us here too!

Hi mamapinky0! I'm fairly new to the GW cooking forum, it's nice to meet you! Like you, I'm reaching for the stars as well and am attempting to return to artisan breads since seeing ann_t's inspirational pic's, recipes, and lovely pictorial tutorials on her blog! (oh, and pizza's too!). Annie's cherry nut bread looks amazing as well, and it's on my to-try list as well.

Do you knead by hand or have a mixer with which to knead? ann_t's recipe requires no kneading, and uses the stretch and fold method... this past weekend I managed a batard... I didn't let it proof enough before 'slashing' it, but it baked beautifully anyway and was nice and holey...

Photos for uploading · More Info

Photos for uploading · More Info

If you've a mixer or wish to hand knead, I have a basic 'sandwich' bread recipes I'd be happy to share : )

My go-to white bread is this one (it's fairly rich): 2 loaves

Ingredients:

• 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast

• 1 ½ cups milk

• ⅓ cup granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon kosher salt

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted, more for greasing bowl and pans and for brushing the tops of the loaves

• 2 eggs

• 5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1) In a large bowl or mixing bowl combine all ingredients and blend. Remove to hand knead, or knead in mixer until dough passes window-pane test.

2) Grease a large bowl with butter (I use canola oil) and turn dough out into the bowl. Flip over dough so greased side is up, cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and set in a pre-warmed oven with a cup of hot water until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Generously butter two 9-x-5 loaf pans.

3) When dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto floured surface and knead for 3 minutes. Return to bowl, cover and let rise again for 30 minutes.

4) Press down dough with your hand to expel the air. Divide dough in half and place each half into a loaf pan (I don't butter or grease mine for this bread).

5) Cover and let rise in oven until dough is just above the tops of pans.

6. Meanwhile preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake bread for 9 minutes covering at 5 minutes with foil if needed, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until loaves sound hollow when tapped, the tops are brown and the internal temperatures are 200 degrees.

I rub butter on the tops after pulling out from the oven - DH likes the softer crust this makes : - )

Remove loaves from pans and let cool on wire racks.

I wrap 1/2 loaves in saran wrap, place in freezer bags and freeze. Remove to fridge overnight to thaw. This bread lasts us 4 full days of sandwiches, and makes a lovely toast too. I do keep it in the fridge wrapped and baggie'd - no mold issues. And I usually make 6 loaves.

Welcome, MP! I’ve seen your posts recently and wondered if you were perhaps a former regular with her user name shuffled around. I guess not. Stick around!

Hi Mama! Glad to see you here as well as at the Table, and of course your beloved laundry forum :-)

Hi, Mama! Glad to see you introduce yourself. Yes, we learn a lot from each other on this forum and it's fun to try new things that are posted on here. I'm not on here as often as I'd like to be, but I still try to keep up and try new things.

Madonna

Thank You everyone.

Compumom...yep we do know each other from the laundry room. ..do you think I should let everyone know I enjoy laundry so much more than cooking..LOL.

Anyway Thank You all and I'll say more in response to all your posts later...I'm dealing with sick kids but didn't wantyou all to think I disappeared.

Hey Mamapinky, I know you from the Laundry Forum...glad you are crossing over to the Cooking Forum.

Cathy/Mustangs81

@2ManyDiversions: I was going to take a stab at your go-to sandwich bread today (thanks for posting/sharing!), and noted your "5 to 6 c" flour measurement. I'll start with 5 for my Step 1, but how do you determine whether more needs to be added? i.e., what consistency am I looking for when the blending's finished? TIA!

mamapinky0: I hope all your kiddos have recovered! :)

You met in the laundry room? haha. or better, ROLFL.

Not going there. Don't like laundry. I keep telling DH to "stop wearing clothes!"

Younger pup is sock obsessed. Doesn't chew, just collects. He even collects in pairs, so that's a good thing. He has taken a fancy to one of the bedroom reading chairs. Aways full of dirty socks, matched. We still had sock issues, disappearing. I pulled out that chair one day to let Roomba have access....lol. The corner was loaded with missing sox.

Right now I'm watching DH ironing our new batch of dinner napkins. He likes ironing. I ordered a new dozen each of three colors but they are very thin. I really like them being thin but they are tiny wrinkled balls out of the dryer. We use one as a placemat and one as a napkin, fresh every night. He just said, "our meals deserve nice things", lol. (I don't mind wrinkled napkin balls)

Welcome and enjoy the cooking show here.

I speak for the 1% that does not like sugar or cinnamon or dessert but a few savory ones or a bit of necessary sugars to balance the sharp bite. : )