After months of my new bread machine taunting me from its spot on the countertop, months of waking up to visions of ciabatta, focaccia, and cinnamon rolls, so delectable that i could almost taste them, i finally got up the nerve to take my new (ish) toy for a spin.
I spent ridiculous amounts of time, poring over every recipe site i could find, trying to find the one recipe that was worthy of being The First Loaf. I finally, begrudgingly settled on this recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/217174 , not so much because it was my ideal recipe, I would have liked to start out with a nice ciabatta, but because it used the bread machine from start to finish, and would give me a good idea of how it works.
I spent ridiculous amounts of time, poring over every recipe site i could find, trying to find the one recipe that was worthy of being The First Loaf. I finally, begrudgingly settled on this recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/217174 , not so much because it was my ideal recipe, I would have liked to start out with a nice ciabatta, but because it used the bread machine from start to finish, and would give me a good idea of how it works.
Now, i have to admit that in my eagerness to get the bread going, i skipped the minced garlic, but the bread doesn't miss it. My loaf came out, weird looking and smaller than expected, but it smelled like heaven. Garlicky, cheesy heaven. Naturally i had to have a piece, immediately. It was gorgeous. Smeared with butter it was the ultimate comfort food. Now, i think I'm addicted. I want to make more bread, countless loaves. I just wish i had more people to eat them.
After making the bread, i felt a delicious sense of HeMan-like power, and decided that i would make some cookies right then and there. Being 9 at night, i opted for simple, and decided to make chocolate chip, my favourite lazy cookie recipe. I do think that if i had to, i could quite possibly make these with my eyes closed. The cookies were delicious, and smelled delicious, and at one point i feared that the combined smells from the cookies and the bread would bring my neighbors through the kitchen door on a cartoon-esque cloud of these delicious smells. Thankfully, that didn't happen.
