RecipeMuncher

My baking skills are starting to be an area of embarrassment for me. More specifically it is my bread making. And not all of my bread making, just the end results of my daily loaf. I have baked this bread over and over again with perfect results. Never a problem, never a glitch. In my defense I will add that I’ve been baking bread for a very long time. I grew up in a home where bread making was a weekly event. I’ve had my hands in dough for a s long as I can remember.

The brick wall that I’ve hit is that the last two batches of my daily loaf have turned out miserably. They have been short, flat loaves with a crumbly texture. I’m embarrassed to make a sandwich on the stuff and put it in my sweetheart’s lunchbox.  Today is bread baking day and I have to admit that for once I am NOT looking forward to it.

I have had to make a few ingredient swaps in my recipe. Only due to availability issues. I swear by Red Star yeast and Wegmans whole wheat flour. It’s not always convenient to get to Wegmans and I’ve been having a very hard time finding Red Star yeast in my local markets. The products that I have used in their place are Fleischmann’s yeast and King Arthur whole wheat flour. I have used both of these substitutions successfully in the past. Can anyone give me ideas or suggestions on my bread dilemma?

My other idea is to possibly use a bread machine for my daily loaf. I do not think that I would use it for all of my bread making though. I’m saying this because I have never had a good experience with a bread machine. I haven’t used one since they first came out on the market. My experience was so bad that I gave the thing away immediately. My questions for all of you are…

Have bread machines gotten any better in recent years?

Is there a brand that you could recommend?

Is using a bread machine cheating?

Please help me…I’m getting a headache just thinking about baking this afternoon!

The real frosting on the cake is that this whole thing appears to have been pre-meditated before the bailout was even official. I’m sure those executives think they’re getting a sweet deal, but they clearly don’t know about Malibu’s upper crust.

From the Financial Center to Wall Street itself to the shell-shocked (former) Lehman Brothers building in midtown Manhattan, it’s easy to find stressed-out financial workers sucking on cigarettes, and most will tell you they’re lighting up more often. Nobody is thinking of quitting….

The outrage expressed by many so-called Main Street folks over the proposed Wall Street bailout is based on more than a sense of injustice.It’s about revenge, and Washington politicians would be wise to listen up…