My New Obsession

Yes i tend to go there with things that obsess me.  They tend to strike most especially at the beginning of winter times.   i do not always develop a particular skill with them more just a way not to feel so trapped during the cold dark winters.  Some say that winter in Maryland is not so bad, but to this 5th generation California native they are!  Throw in some minor sad and a week of gray drizzle with highs of 43 and yep it is full on winter to me.  This year the obsession appears it will bread.  Not just any bread, but homemade bread from the bread maker that has sat on the freezer in the laundry room for 3 years now.  Yep not even caused by a new purchase or gift.  

I may not be super fond of the way the loaves look.  but it so is the bomb way to make bread with no counter space and an infant.  I might miss the sensuous acts of the kneading and punching, but the smell and feel of fresh baked can be had my some measuring, button pushing and occasional viewing through the top of the machine.  It is fun to wait until the final ding.  Both loaves so far i have cut into as soon as they finished and were successfully removed from the maker pan, no small feat with kneader thing stuck in the bottom of them!  The slices may be jagged, but the butter melts so perfectly and the feel of it too good to resist.  The flavor at least in the rosemary bread seemed to develop better with a little cooling and tine.  

Now i am on a quest to try as many recipes as possible.  I only got 3 little yeast packets in case i did not like it.  Today i plan to hit the store just for a jar of yeast to feed the new obsession.  It will need to come with a new cardio fixation as well.  That might be a good thing.  Cardio is not something i long to do.  I have plenty fo tapes to play with and throw in fit tv and even during the long winter confinement i should be able to find plenty of ways to keep moving in order to offset my increased bread intake.  

So far i made a rosemary bread with basic bread flour and an oatmeal bread with reg bread flour again.  I want to play and try many options.  Any recipes or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  My next is going to be a banana bread of some sort.  I have snack tuesday morning for bible study and want to take a bread and some muffins of some sort.  I also want to play with some based on whole grains.  I would love to try making a quinoa and herb bread.  Yumm-oh.  A bread based on whole grains would seem more fitting to me.  AFter all how can a food nazi, as my darling husband so fondly calls me, spend a winter obsessed with making breads from basic bread flour?  

Recipes and ideas would be greatly appreciated.  I might have to figure out how to keep a tally of different bread recipes tried and reviews of them.  

ps i still hate gray rainy blah days but the carb coma might just help me not care.