I'm proud of the fact that we have not bought bread in a store for nearly three years! At the end of 2005, after much deliberation, we cashed in several Amazon gift certificates and splurged on this. Yes, you can certainly make bread just fine without a machine, but there is no way I have time to make nearly daily loaves of sandwich bread without it! In fact, I streamlined the process even further -- I make up 6 loaves' worth of dry mix, and then the next week or two of bread is simple as can be. I also use it to mix dough for other kinds of bread, pizza dough, you name it. We originally looked into making all our own bread when Emily started eating solid foods and we realized how much garbage was in practically everything at the store, but as it turns out, it has saved tons of money -- and fresh bread is never more than 2 hours away! And warm, fresh bread....usually half the loaf is gone within 15 minutes of it coming out. Mmm!
This week's This Is... theme brought to you by Katie of May The Cloth Be With You.
YES! Yay, bread machine! Our bread machine is my favorite and most used out of all our wedding presents. Ours is a Sunbeam which puts out a vertical loaf. I'm happy with it for a first-time bread machine. But I'm really impressed with the shape of your loaf...now I'm kind of wishing we'd put the Zojirushi on our gift registry instead of the Sunbeam! Maybe we'll upgrade to the Zojirushi someday.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I researched like crazy before we bought it. This is the machine King Arthur uses in their test kitchens for everything (although I doubt they ever bake in it, lol!) It is a serious workhorse. I figure we've used it literally hundreds of times...the beaters have worn out twice and the pan is about to finally need replacing, but the machine is going strong!! It gets as low as $200 on and off, save up amazon gifts and splurge someday!
ReplyDeleteOh man fresh bread rocks, and for 6 years!? That's comitment! After moving to the states I never really found a store bread I really liked.
ReplyDeleteWe've had a bread maker sitting doing nothing for a few years, you might have just convinced me to drag it out!
I have the Zojirushi and I love it! I'm hereby vowing to make all our own bread. I've been wanting to for a while and you've inspired me!
ReplyDeleteI have the Zojirushi and I love it! I'm hereby vowing to make all our own bread. I've been wanting to for a while and you've inspired me!
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