Everything Else

Yesterday, I decided to buy myself a present, a Breadman Ultimate breadmachine. It's not like there was a lot of choice, the one Breadman model was the only bread machine carried by the store I went to. Its a sign that the big bread machine craze of several years ago is over. The important feature of this machine is the oblong pan which makes a more traditional size and shape of loaf which in turn helps control portion control (the slices on the square pans are just to big for me.) I have a sandwich at lunch everyday so this will add some much needed variety to my otherwise dull diet.

The other manifestation that the breadmachine craze got replaced by the lo-carb craze (pay attention in the back there) - both supermarkets I visited had only a few bread mixes, whereas just a few years ago they had shelves full of competing brands.

I have not made bread with it yet since I'm using up some store bought bread I have first. I tend to prefer whole grain, whole wheat breads so first up will be a couple from Hodgson Mill which I can buy at one of my local stores. I might also send away for some multi-grain mixes from Bob's Red Mill. The machine did come with a nice recipe book and I might try some bread recipes but I'm a lazy bum at heart and I will probably use mixes because they are so easy.

Of course this will give me something to blog about as I conduct mandatory taste testing of the different breads I make.