Friday Five

• Cleaning up including things on both our daily cleaning list and our weekly list. Today was scrub the bathrooms. It is probably one of my least favorite jobs, but it feels good to be holding myself accountable.
• made another batch of bread. This one mades 4 loaves of bread. I gave away two of them because it seemed to turn out so well. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks good.
  
• Prince Charming's work made a change for him, so I have hope that he will begin to like it a little better. They really do seem to value him as an employee and to understand his concerns. I hope it works out.
  
• I am anxious for Spring to come. I want to start getting the girls out of the house again. It feels very claustrophobic here these days.
• I have fallen off the diet wagon hard this week, but as of tomorrow, I am back to being a good vegetarian girl who cooks for her omnivore family but eats only healthy, low fat vegetarian food for herself.
  

Basic White Bread

Baking Time
25-30 minutes.

Ingredients

2 tsp sugar
1 cup water, warm
2 envelope active dry yeast
2 cup milk
4 tbsp butter or margarine
4 tbsp sugar
3 tsp salt
1 cup water, warm
10 - 11 cups White Flour

Preparation

DISSOLVE 2 teaspoon sugar in 1 cup warm water in large bowl. Sprinkle in yeast. Let stand 10 minutes, then stir well.

HEAT milk to lukewarm. Stir in butter, 4 tablespoons sugar, salt and 1 cup warm water. Add milk mixture and 4 cups Robin Hood Best For Bread Homestyle White Flour to dissolved yeast mixture. Beat with wooden spoon or electric mixer until smooth and elastic.

STIR IN remaining flour gradually. If necessary, add more flour to make a soft dough which leaves sides of bowl. Turn out on floured board. Round up into a ball.

KNEAD dough, adding more flour as necessary, until dough is smooth, elastic and no longer sticky (about 10 minutes).

PLACE in lightly greased bowl. Turn dough to greased top. Cover with greased waxed paper and tea towel.

LET RISE in warm place (75°-85°F/24°-29°C) until doubled (45-60 minutes).

PUNCH DOWN. Turn out onto lightly floured board and divide into 2 equal portions. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

SHAPE each portion into a loaf. Place seam side down in 2 greased 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 2 3/4" (1.5 L) loaf pans. Cover with tea towel.

LET RISE in warm place until dough rises 1 1/2" (3 cm) above top of pan in centre and corners are filled (45 to 60 minutes).

BAKE at 400°F (200°C) on lower oven rack for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from pans immediately. Brush top crust with butter if a soft crust is desired. Cool on wire racks.

Nutrient Content Per Portion

Calories 214
Protein 6.9 g
Fat 3.4 g
Carbohydrate 38.9 g
Sodium 451 mg
Cholesterol 8 mg