Introduction:

There has been a long history of bread making within the Lyon household. When I was growing up the only "store bought" bread I ate was at friends houses and restaurants. It was partially because of this history and partially because of curiosity I decided that when I retired and "had some time" I would learn to bake bread.

When I retired, loving friends helped my goal by giving me a wonderful Kitchen Aid professional mixer, complete with dough hook. Marlene has provided the books. I'm the only guy I know that has dozens of books on baking. The bread-making process is much more forgiving than I ever thought, and is a real delight. I'm glad I started making bread. Of course, being a bit obsessive I have "branched out" into focaccia, muffins and pies. The pie story will have to wait for now but just let me say this. Sweet potato pie is yummy .. even when I make it!

Recipes:

Beginner's White Bread
If you have never baked bread before - this is for you. Measure accurately and it will produce beautiful dough and wonderful bread.
YEAST, ACTIVE DRY	5 TEASPOONS
SUGAR	2 TABLESPOONS
SALT	1 1/2 TEASPOONS
FLOUR	5 1/2 - 6 1/4 CUPS
MILK	1 1/2 CUP
BUTTER OR MARGARINE	2 TABLESPOONS
EGGS	2 LARGE
Directions:  In a large bowl stir together yeast, sugar, salt and 2 cups of the flour. Set aside. In a sauce pan, over low heat, heat milk and butter (or margarine) until very warm. (120 - 130 degrees F.) Using a mixer at low speed, gradually add all the milk mixture into the flour, yeast mixture and mix until smooth. Increase speed to medium and beat for about 2 minutes. You will see the gluten forming. With mixer back on low add eggs and another cup of flour, Blend until smooth. If you have a mixer with a dough hook, skip to "machine method" otherwise continue here with "hand method." Hand Method Using a large spoon (wooden preferred) stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough. Take dough out of the bowl and knead on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes. When properly kneaded, this dough will have a very smooth, ivory appearance and be very elastic and "push back" when you knead it. Machine Method Switching the mixer paddle to the dough hook, turn on a low speed. Add enough additional flour to make a soft dough that cleans the bowl real well. When enough flour has been added, increase the machine speed slightly and knead the dough an additional 3 minutes. Both Methods Put dough in a large, well greased bowl. Turn once to grease top and cover with a lint free towel. Put in a warm place and let dough rise until double. (About 1 hour.) Grease two 9X5 loaf pans. Punch down dough and divide into two equal portions. Cover and let rest for about 10 minutes. (This lets the gluten relax so that forming loaves is easier.) With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out each portion into a rectangle that is about 9 inches wide. Roll up this rectangle in jelly roll fashion, pinching the seams together in place in the loaf pan. Do the same for the other portion. Cover both pans and place in a warm place until the dough again doubles in volume, or is just above the rim of the loaf pan. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until loaves are dark golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove bread from pans and let cool on rack at least 1 hour before cutting. Yield is 2 loaves

Yeast Pit-Falls:

Yeast measurement can be confusing. Too little yeast and bread doesn't rise well. Too much and it rises too quickly and ruins the texture of the bread.

Older recipes call for cake yeast, others packets of yeast; still others active dry yeast. Cake yeast came in .6 ounce (i.e. 6/10) and 2 ounce cakes. One .6 ounce cake is equal to 2 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast (i.e. one 1/4 ounce package). All modern packets of dry yeast contain 2 1/2 teaspoons of yeast.
Original dry yeast packets contained 1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) of yeast, that is 1/2 teaspoon more than present. Sometimes checking your recipe book's measurement listing will indicate which they size packet they mean. The rest of the time you have to experiment. The good news is if you error by too little yeast, you just increase the rise time and all will be well.
All the recipes listed here give the measurement in teaspoons or tablespoons of active dry yeast, not packets, to avoid confusion.

Rule of Thumb:   Generally, use 1 packet, 2 1/2 teaspoons of dry yeast for each 4 cups of flour you are using. However, this varies a bit. Example: Many bread recipes call for 6 cups of flour, and 2 packets or 5 teaspoons of active dry yeast. Always error on the low side. Longer rise times tend to give better tasting bread; so don't get in a rush.

Yeast Proofing:

In most cases you should "proof" your yeast. To do this, sprinkle dry yeast over lukewarm (105 - 115°F) water, and stir (whisk) in to dissolve. Be sure to get the part that will stick to the sides and whisk dissolved. Let this mixture set about 5 minutes and it should become foamy. Dissolving about a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar into the water prior to adding the yeast, will help "jump start" the yeast to "prove" it is alive. Remember, this liquid is part of the overall liquid in the recipe!
If making whole wheat bread, use a "drop" of molasses instead of sugar. Yeast loves molasses and will start working immediately if it is alive. Molasses will "stain" or darken white bread, so you may not want to use it for those recipes you want to keep white.

Baking Soda vs Baking Powder:

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