Bread! And some introductions . . .

• At the request of my neighbor, Hillary, who stuck her head in my back door yesterday and smelled baking bread, (which is not unusual because I always realize I am out of bread and I hate the grocery store with a passion and refuse to go more then once a week),  I am posting a couple of bread recipes here.  I am always on the hunt for good homemade bread recipes, because, let's face it, homemade bread is just awesome.  :) Before I do that, though, I thought I would do some quick introductions . . . though all of you from SGS know each other.
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• Hillary is my backyard neighbor and good friend who has a 6-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy.  Our kids are outside playing together nearly every day, and Hillary and I can be found intervening when needed and commiserating about what we are each making for dinner.  This blog came from those conversations that centered around "oh, can I have that recipe?" and "please tell me you have an idea of what he heck I should do about dinner". Yes, there have been times we have been standing at the trampoline chatting while our kids jumped, only to eventually realize that our kids are nowhere to be found.  Unfortunately, they always seem to find their way back . . . 

Tracey is my "sideyard" neighbor ;) and good friend who has 4 boys (11, 9, 5, 2) and one 7-year-old girl. (Maybe now is a good time to mention that the kids' ages are approximate, and my best guess!). Her kids are also always playing outside and yes, we have lost several of them as well.  (The most famous incident involved finding them in the locked car, in the driveway, while we ran frantically all over the neighborhood  . . . ) We have traded off pregnancies for the entire time I've lived here.  Yes, she is ahead by one, and I intend to leave it that way!!  Tracey is a homeschooling mom, which translates to:  "I have no idea how she does it".  She appears to be completely sane!

Christen and Clare have kids in all my kids classes, and were my running buddies this summer during MWTHFFWLFWLTR.  Christen has 3 girls (8, 6, and 4) . . . And a 2-year-old boy named Luke.  Christen is not yet on this blog because she has her hands too full to set up a google account, (haha) but I have every confidence that she will see the light.  She is also a part time 4th grade teacher. Clare or Amanda, please let her know that I have called her out on the blog . . . 

Clare has a basketball team very similar to Tracey's . . . 4 boys (10, 8, 6, and 4) and a 2-year-old girl.  I heard that she loves Big Macs more than life. (Just kidding!). :) It is my life mission to turn her into a morning person as well as a coffee drinker.  Time will tell.  

Amanda has an 8-year-old girl and 2 boys (6 and 3(?)).  She routinely puts up with Katie at Girl Scouts (as does Christen), for which they both deserve medals.  She is a fitness instructor in her spare time.

I would LOVE to expand this blog to more people, so please invite anyone you think might be interested.  :)

Without further ado, this first bread recipe is easy and pretty quick . . . no kneading required.  I have had trouble with it staying together when sliced, but I attribute that to the fact I have never had stoneground whole wheat flour, and have only used white whole wheat flour.  We still manage to eat the whole loaf in one sitting . . .

IRISH BROWN BREAD

• 3 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour, preferably stoneground
• 1/2 cup white flour (all-purpose or bread flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• generous 1/2 cup, plus 1 1/2 cups tepid water - scant 2 cups total
• 1 tablespoon dark molasses 
• 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast 

1. Mix the flours with the salt in a medium bowl.

2. Pour 1/2 cup of water into a small bowl and stir in the molasses, then add the yeast, stirring a couple of times. Let stand until it starts to foam on top, about 10 minutes.

3. Pour the yeast mixture and the remaining 1 1/2 cups water into the flour and stir until a batter is formed, which will have the consistency of oatmeal. (If using standard whole-wheat flour, the dough will be sticky, and rather wet.) Let stand 10 minutes.

4. Spray a nonstick 9-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray and cut a piece of parchment or wax paper to line the bottom of the pan. Scrape the dough into the prepared pan, smooth the top with a spatula or if it’s sticky, dampen your hand and use that then drape a kitchen towel over the top (so it’s not pressing down on the dough, but just lightly over the top) and let rise in a warm place until the dough reaches the top of the pan, about 20 minutes – although it can vary so just keep an eye on it.

5. Before the dough has almost reached the top of the pan, preheat the oven to 450ºF. When the dough has reached the top of the pan, bake the bread for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, decrease the heat to 400ºF. Run a knife around the outside of the bread to release it from the pan, tip the loaf out of the pan, remove the parchment paper, and place the loaf upside down directly on the baking rack and let bake another 15 minutes, or until done. The bread is ready when you tap the bottom and it sounds hollow. If using an instant-read thermometer, the temperature should read 190ºF. Let the bread cool on a wire rack before slicing.

BREAD MACHINE HALF-WHOLE WHEAT BREAD
(This is my go-to bread machine recipe when making bread overnight, which we do all the time.  It doesn't have any perishable ingredients, and it takes about 3 minutes to throw together after dinner.  It is really good the first day, but like all other homemade whole wheat breads I've made, it gets dry after that.  So if we don't finish the loaf we usually turn it into french toast or breadcrumbs.)

1 1/2 cups water
2 2/3 cups bread flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp active dry yeast

Put them in the machine and use the whole wheat setting.  Its that simple!

I would LOVE a homemade bread recipe, with at least SOME whole wheat flour, that doesn't get dry after Day 1.  So if you have one, please share.  Thanks!

Kathy