Fantastic Bread Machine Recipes

Old World Rye Bread Recipe

Swirly bread with cornmeal and flour sprinkled on top.

Crusty!

Crusty Rye Bread 

(for bread machines)

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2/3 cup water at 105-110 degrees F

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2/3 cup of buttermilk

1.25 cup of bread flour

1 cup rye flour

1/3 cup mashed potato mix, dry variety

2 Tbsp brown sugar, packed

1.25 tsp salt

2 tsp bread machine yeast

Place all ingredients in bread machine, starting with the liquids and ending with the yeast. Be sure to keep the yeast out of contact with the liquids or salt. Select dough/manual cycle and let it rip!

Remove dough and place on a lightly floured surface, cover, and let rest for ten minutes.

On a greased cookie sheet, sprinkle cornmeal.

Roll dough with hands into a 25inch rope. Curl the rope into a coil shape and tuck the end underneath the dough. Place on cookie sheet and let rise 45 minutes, meanwhile heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Brush water on top of dough, and sprinkle with cornmeal and a tad bit of flour. 

Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan and onto cooling rack.

Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

Recipe from Betty Crocker Cookbook for Bread Machines

For a 1.5lb loaf (12 slices, unless you live in my house then 8 slices) you will need:

3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp warm water (105-110 degrees F)
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup shredded zucchini

1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1.5 cups bread flour
3 Tbsp dry milk
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves

Add last!!
2 tsp active yeast

Combine all ingredients in bread machine pan in the order as listed.

Set bread machine to desired loaf size, crust color, and setting (I used the whole wheat setting).

Let it do its thing!

I love watching the bread machine mix all the ingredients, it is addicting and far superior than television :)

3 hours later...

Voila!! Zucchini bread! 

Lesson 3: What is a Bread Machine?

Baking has been around for a very long time. I mean a very long time. That being said, the world of baking has made some great advances making it not only easier for the average Joe to do, but also making it more accessible for more people. One of the greatest inventions in the history of baking, in my opinion, is the bread machine.

Bread machines are basically a one step process for making any sort of bread, without really having to do it with your own hands. I mean, I love baking and everything that goes with it, but I do have a life outside of the kitchen. Bread machines are literally a machine, that has a bucket/baking pan, a kneading paddle, heating/baking element, and several different programs. You can choose which program you want based on what kind of bread or dough you would like to make.

As with any aspect of baking, there are specific rules to using bread machines. The order of the ingredients that you put into the bread machine is critical, it should go a little something like this:

1. Liquids (water, butter, etc.)
2. Flour
3. Sugar, Salt, other seasonings
4. Always always always add the yeast last. 

source

The programs will vary in baking, kneading, and resting time based on what program you have selected. Also there is the convenience of choosing the kind of crust color you would like and what size loaf you would like. 

Great video!

Portfolio # 2

Have you ever heard of "Pink Medicine"? I had not heard of it either until I came upon a really interesting article that explained just what the philosophy and main goals of pink medicine is. As defined by the article, Pink Medicine is "an intuitive, collaborative, heart-centered, empowering, feminine way to approach an expanded definition of health that includes not just physical and mental health, but also interpersonal, emotional, spiritual, sexual, professional, environmental, and financial health, all of which profoundly affect the health of the body" (source).

Pink Medicine really has a lot to do with valuing yourself as an individual. If you were, for instance, diagnosed with a severely debilitating illness or injury, Pink Medicine would encourage you to believe that you are worth both the fight of keeping you alive and restoring your good health. A main facet to Pink Medicine is believing that your body can help restore itself. This is not to say that physicians who practice Pink Medicine do not use the most up to date forms of treatment, it simply means that a patient believes that their body will react well to the treatment and that they will get better.

A great deal of what Pink Medicine is based on is related to Psychology. Essentially, Pink Medicine helps prevent patients from developing "learned helplessness". Learned helplessness is a concept in psychology that occurs when an individual loses hope and sees no options for making something better or ameliorating their pain. If an individual was diagnosed with a terminal illness, it would be very easy to fall into the learned helplessness way of thinking. It is difficult to hold onto hope when faced with a tragic diagnosis. Learned helplessness is also related to depression. Depression in individuals with severe illnesses, such as cancer and AIDS, is very common and may have detrimental effects on how a patient reacts to a treatment.

Patients who practice Pink Medicine do not believe that doctors can simply rectify their problems. They are not looking for a quick fix, rather they are developing a spiritual plan that will assist them in the troubling days ahead of them. Essentially, patients take control of their healing process since they are the sole proprietor of their own body.

Introducing Pink Medicine Article

Best Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Hey there! Feeling a little blue? Craving those carbs? Hey, we've all been there. Try making these cookies...for someone else. Trust me, you will be happier knowing that you made someone else's day a little brighter with a sweet treat than if you merely gorged yourself.

Recipe from mybakingaddiction.com

Best Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, add butter, sugars, vanilla, and eggs. With an electric mixer, mix ingredients on medium speed until fluffy.

Hey there! Feeling a little blue? Craving those carbs? Hey, we've all been there. Try making these cookies...for someone else. Trust me, you will be happier knowing that you made someone else's day a little brighter with a sweet treat than if you merely gorged yourself. 

Add in baking soda, salt. Gradually add flour until dough is thick.

Gently fold in chocolate chips.

On an ungreased cookie sheet plop down the dough and bake for 11-13 minutes. 

Big cookies vs. little cookies 

That way everyone is happy!

Once out of the oven cool on hot sheet for 1-2 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

These are a guaranteed hit! 

The Ten Commandments of Yeast Use: Lesson # 2

Yeast and I are great friends. Well, we are great friends now. Our relationship has had its ups and downs, but it has finally mellowed out. There are some mistakes that every novice baker will make when it comes to baking with yeast, after all it is a very tricky operation. Never fear because I am here to give you the ten commandments of yeast use.

The Ten Commandments of Yeast Use

1. Thou shall not mix yeast with salt.
2. Thou shall not mix yeast with water.
3. Thou shall not mix the yeast with any liquid that is over approximately 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. Yeast should be added last when mixing ingredients.
5. Yeast should be kept sealed air tight, or in the refrigerator.
6. Yeast loves sugar, so no sugar substitutes in recipes.
7. Yeast is affected by the weather.
8. Yeast is affected by the temperature of your kitchen.
9. There are several different types of yeast, some are not interchangeable.
10. Respect the yeast.

Yeast is a leavening agent, which means that it helps the bread rise. There are several different types of leavening agents (which we will discuss later on) and the main purpose of these leavening agents is to make gas bubbles. Depending on what kind of leavening agent and how much is used, one's baked goods can be very dense or extremely airy. 

So what does yeast actually do? This is so very not complicated. It releases gas. Specifically, it releases Carbon Dioxide. Baddabing baddaboom. 

I know what you are thinking, how does it release gas? You asked the right girl. Yeast likes to eat sugar, it's what it does. When the yeast reacts and metabolizes the sugar, the carbon dioxide gas is released. 

I would watch this video.

It's very entertaining.

There are puppets.

Portfolio #1

I am a Psychology nerd. It's the truth. I live, sleep, eat, and breath Psychology. One of the most fascinating aspects of Psychology is how it can relate to every nuance of the human life. From our love interests to our career goals, a psychological explanation can be accounted for. There is even an effect on the food choices that we make based on Psychology. Food and Psychology? Hello bliss.

In a fascinating article from Psychology Today, I have learned that a lot of our cravings and food preferences are psychologically driven. For instance, two brain chemicals by the names of neuropeptide Y and galanin retain control over our cravings for fat and carbohydrates. Foods rich in fat and carbohydrates are quickly becoming the first choice of many individuals in these times and there are consequences for that, such as becoming obese.

So what is the source of these cravings and seemingly bad food choices? The answer is neurochemicals. Neurochemicals are basically small little doodads in the brain that greatly affect how a person is feeling. For instance, many times depression is caused and/or severely affected by a minute amount of serotonin. Antidepressant medications are prescribed so as to increase not only the amount of serotonin but also how long the serotonin stays in the synapse. Neurochemicals that are not balanced in an individual can lead to severe problems, including not only depression but also eating disorders.

Our appetites are affected by several different entities, one being age. Children tend to eat less fat, instead they crave carbohydrates as a source of energy and protein so as to help in the growth of their newly forming muscles. When children hit puberty, an increase in the amount of fat consumed increases drastically. In females, fat consumption especially spikes after menarche. Males entering puberty focus on ingesting food high in fat content but also pair that fat with a protein as to help build muscle. So, women will crave cake, chocolate, and sweets. Men, on the other hand, will crave steak, ribs, etc.

As human beings, we are no strangers to stress. Stress has a very large impact on one's appetite. When we feel stressed our body sends out a hormone called "cortisol", which originates in the brain from the hypothalamus. Cortisol's purpose is basically to help us survive if we were truly in a life or death situation. So whether you were being chased by a tiger or taking an exam that you did not study for, your body would interpret your stress level in the same way. When it comes to eating, Cortisols main purpose is to increase the amount of Neuropeptide Y. Neuropeptide Y controls one's appetite for carbohydrates. This may lead to weight gain and overeating.

So how does baking tie into all of this? Well I know that from my own experience whenever I feel upset or blue about something I tend to bake something a little sweeter, whether that be a batch of cookies or even biscotti. There is just something very comforting about the smell and the taste of these baked goods. Whenever I am having a good day, I try out different recipes that may not be so sugar centered, such as French baguettes or rye bread. Not only does the chemicals in my brain affect what I bake, they affect what I eat which can have great effects later on in life.

Baking + Chemistry + Psychology = Fun!

Food Psychology?

This field is awesome!

Chemistry and Craving Article

Julia Child's French Bread

I love this video for several reasons. Firstly, it features Julia Child, one of my culinary idols. Secondly, French bread = delicious. Thirdly, the two chefs in the video talk about the chemical composition of flours, the gluten in flours, the effects of temperature on baked goods, and the importance of keeping the yeast happy and alive.