Macooo says: let's try again with the bread making

Yesterday I wrote a blog which went to Internet Heaven, it just disappeared. It was about the wonderful smell of bread baking in the kitchen. I have been baking my own bread for about 32 years!
I started making it about 4 months before we left for the Great White North, Iqaluit now, Frobisher Bay then, in the mid 70's. We had been told that buying bread there was at your own risk, and very expensive. We were strongly advised to include flour in our sea lift so we could make our own breads. In order to know how much flour I needed for a whole year, since the sea lift with our food only came in once a year,( but that's another story I'll share with you one day) I had to make bread and see how many we ate each week in our family of four, and then multiply it by the number of weeks, and add a bit more for pastry and other uses.
Baking bread is not as hard as they make it out to be in the books. And in the 70's there wasn't yet all that talk about fibers and the arguments between white vs. brown bread. We were a white bread family.
For two loaves, or 12 buns I used 3 1/2C  to 4 C of flour, 2 tsp of yeast, 1 tsp of sugar and 1 C of warm water. Put the sugar and the yeast in 1/3 of the water and let it rise ( no draft please); the 3 C of flour in a big bowl with the salt and make a well in the middle. When the yeast was all bubbly, about 10 minutes, ( the comfy smell is starting) poor it in the well and add the rest of the warm water. With your fingers, blend in the flour into the liquid. When it gets a big hard, sprinkle some of the flour on the counter, plop the dough on the counter and start kneading the  rest of the flour. And knead about 10 minutes until the dough has an nice elastic body and is velvety or smooth like a baby's butt on top. Kneading is just folding the dough and then rolling it with the heel of your hand. It is sort of stretching it and rolling it back together. You can actually get a nice rythm doing it and sing along while doing it...very therapeutic!
Put the thing in a greased bowl , roll it in the bowl so it gets greased all over, cover it with a towel ( no draft please) and let time do its work. Wen it is double in size give it a punch and watch it deflate like a balloon (kids love that part). Then you have a choice, either let it rise a second time in the bowl, or shape it in loaves and let it rise like that. I have done both, it gives you a different texture for the inside, that 's all. 
Let it rise in the loaf pans or in a ball, or as baguettes and then bake at 425° F for 10 minutes, then turn down to 350 for breads, buns I just let them cook at 425 for 15 to 20 minutes. 
If you want a hard crust, steam the oven with water (either in a pan at the bottom or just spraying water in the hot oven when you put the loaves in). If you want a soft crust, rub some butter on it when it is still really hot. 
There you go. You can get fancy after if you want and experiment with various flours, and recipes, but whatever your searches and recipes, try to always use the KISS method (Keep It Simple Stupid) that's usually gives you the best results. Remember that bread making is an ancient art, invented when there were limited resources....no big secrets and inventions there!Kids love it, I have so many lovely memories: making breads with my children, one on a chair, the other right on the counter, they had their own little pans. There is nothing as soothing as the feel of warm dough, its velvety touch, warm, elastic, floury... and I personally love eating it raw!
The children made beautiful breads full of raisins, dog hair, stones, and whatever esle was flying around the kitchen: the dog loved it too licking all the bits dropped on the floor. I have never been one to be really concerned about tidiness, cleansiness, over-washing your hands, using all those super duper cleaning products that sterilize your environment and make you breath all those odours and chemicals...a strong believer in building immunity to germs and bacterias. Maybe that's why my children were rarely sick after the age of 2. But that's another topic altogether!
Rising bread has such a wonderful scent, baking bread bathes the house in a wonderful, peaceful, comforting and loving smell. Plus you know exactly what is in it, no additive, no bleach ( I always use unbleach flour if I can).
Home made bread is not only good for you, it's psychologically good for you, it's a great entertainment, a great shoulder exercise, great passtime for kids, a rewarding craft, a creative art, a great gift for others.... Need I say more?

Cheers Mama Cool