Now you would think since I have 42 years experience and have taught all my kids to make bread that my husband would be very good at it as well. But you would be wrong! Because I’m now in my 60s and can no longer eat wheat my interest in making home made whole wheat bread has evaporated. I told my husband, who is retired, that he could just put the ingredients into the bread maker as well as in an hour he could have hot bread. So that is exactly what he or she did for months. After awhile this was not good enough for him or her. He wanted to make, what he called, real breads. What he really wanted ended up being to be able to make more than one loaf at a time and freeze it. I’ve got a Bosch mixer with a dough connect, which has stood the test of your time for about 10 years, it becoming the second one I have ever possessed. The first one lasted 32 many years so I cant complain. So I said, “Go ahead. The recipe I have always used is incorporated in the “Wheat Cookery” cookbook.” I actually pointed it out to him or her. It is dirty and has information written all over it exactly where I doubled and tripled the actual recipe to accommodate the tastes of 5 growing children.

The next thing I know he’s in my office asking me to please come because something is wrong. He said it didnt look right.
“Sure ” I said. I’m used to mom to the rescue. Furthermore I get a least 1 call a day from one of my kids asking me how you can do this or how do I do that. I get calls from the friends of my kids who right now call me mom as well as members of my church and other churches. Im always happy to help and always a little flattered they would want my advice and help. I go into the kitchen to find this particular gooey glob going round and round in this best bread maker mixer. I consider one look and tell him it does not have enough flour is all.

He or she tells me that that is what the recipe called for. “It said to mill 6 cups and put 7 cups in the mixer and that is what I did.”

“I understand, but it still doesn’t change the fact that there is not enough flour inside.”

“What do I do I am out of ground flour.”

“Sorry you are just going to have to grind more flour and keep adding it up until the texture is right.”

The way I know when it’s right?Inch

“When the bread pulls from the sides of the bowl as well as clings to the dough hook and when you pinch this between thumb and finger and it does not stick to your fingers.”

So off he or she goes out into the garage to get more wheat berries to mill.

I got back to my office because I have more to complete than I can get done per day anyway. Even from the office I can smell the fresh ground wheat flour and it smells so good. You can smell all the nutrients in it. I know it will be warm to the touch after being ground. It’s times like these when I feel a little sorry personally not being able to eat wheat any more.

“Honey?” Comes the plea from the kitchen after about 15 minutes. “Could you come here a second, this still doesnt look right?”

We look sadly at the heap of work to be done realizing it will probably have to wait for a later date. I put a smile on my face and head for the kitchen.

What I find is my sweet husband putting unequal levels of bread dough into breads pans of different sizes. I know this going to be bad. The smaller loaves are going to get done before the bigger loaves and he is filling them only half full. I know when you are making whole wheat breads you fill it 2/3 full because whole wheat is not going to rise around white bread. I inform him of such.

He informs me that I am wrong the recipe told him to fill them full.

I inwardly sigh. We decide not to step in as well as take over but to let him handle this on his own. Sometimes the best teacher is to make mistakes and then learn from them. “So what do not you think looks right after that?”

“The tops look bumpy,” he complains.

So I take a lumpy glob of money out of one pan as well as fold it under until the top is smooth on the top and put it back in the breads pan.

“Oh right, you demonstrated how to do that last week when we made whole wheat hamburger buns. By the way you have to go to the bank and do something with your accounts. I will take you. Do you think the bread will be OK while we’re gone?”

We look at the bread and tell him it should be OK so long as we are quick. Bread made from warm freshly ground whole wheat rises quicker than starting with cold flour so I know from experience we dont have a whole lot of time. We go to the bank and thank goodness it is fast. As we are returning home my hubby informs he is going to drop me personally off could I please bake the bread with regard to him. I stifle another sigh and tell him its Okay, go ahead and go. So I end up baking his bread. When it comes out I can tell the small ones are a little over done. Yes I could have taken them out of the oven sooner than the others but Gerald would not learn everything from that. I must do it just how he would do it. I butter the tops as I turn them out of their pans. Then I turn them on their sides near to each other and cover all of them with two towels. This will be sure that the crusts are nice and soft and have a buttery goodness. Oh by the way I checked the recipe. There were two recipes alongside. One called for 7 cups of flour and one called for 13 cups of flour. Guess which one he had been making?

Gerald came home to find warm mouth watering bread to savor. He cut a slice off the big loaf as well as slathered it with butter and home made strawberry freezer jam. Used to do take one bite. Do not judge me I couldnt resist. I am just hoping the price I will ultimately face won’t be that bad. Right before purchasing a bread maker it is highly significant to learn numerous bread maker reviews.

My son showed up the next day just to visit. Well, he also required his dad to fix his windshield wiper, but I prefer to think of it as just a visit to see his poor old parents. As my son had been leaving my husband presented him with the two small loaves. I didnt say a word but I thought maybe my husband wouldnt learn a lesson after all since he or she never had to eat those little loaves. Oh well, maybe next time.