Bread Makers are Tricky!

I was sitting here trying to figure out what to write about today and my mind wandered to a very close friend that I spoke to on my way back from my hot yoga class today. We were talking “bread makers.” You see, she called me Friday to ask me several questions about using hers and I laid out every mistake I made when first learning how to use it. If I can keep one person from making just ONE mistake in ANYTHING then I’m a happy camper. I don’t know if you all use bread makers but I use mine…often. I use it only for the dough setting when I’m making cinnamon rolls or pizza crust. One thing I learned early on is to always add your wet ingredients first, dry second. I am not sure WHY exactly but one of my books told me waaaaaayyyyyyy back in the beginning so I just follow that rule as gospel.

Another mistake I have made SEVERAL times is when it comes to measuring the flour and NOT adding the correct amount. Normally this is due to talking on the phone, talking to someone in the kitchen with me, or basically zoning out on what I’m doing. I’ve had to start over many times on this one and have since incorporated the rule of measuring my flour into a small bowl first and then when I am certain it’s correct, adding it to the rest of the mixture. It just seems to work out better this way rather than wasting expensive ingredients by throwing it all out and having to start over…all because I wasn’t paying close attention to what I am doing.

And while we’re on the subject of wasting ingredients due to my short attention span, allow me to let you in on my BIGGEST error when it comes to my break maker. I am famous for, are you ready for this…forgetting to put the blades back into the pan after cleaning it for my NEXT use. This one mistake has cost me a lot of time and money. One thing you should know is that when you don’t put the blades in but put all your ingredients in first, it’s damn near impossible to get them in without upsetting the entire procedure. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say it’s IMPOSSIBLE to make it work once the blades have been left out.

Which leads me to the moral of this story with my friend. As much as I stressed all of these “tricks” and “lessons” I have learned over the years and tried to spare her from the agony of making the same, during our phone call today she informed me that right after we got off the phone on Friday she, too, forgot to put the blades back in her maker. What did I tell her?????? I emphasized over and over about this one too!! I went through quite a dissertation about the rampifications of leaving out the blades trying to spare her the trials and miseries that I, in the past, have undergone. I had to chuckle just a little bit when she went through all the details of trying to wheedle that blade back in after all the flour, yeast, egg, butter, water, salt, and sugar were gooing around her hands and fingers. When she was finished telling me all about how much trouble this one faux pas caused her, I felt the need to blurt out “I told you so! I told you so!” on making such an unnecessary blunder. And as much as I love her rest assured that’s just exactly what I did…I TOLD YOU SO!!!!! I bet, like me, she double checks that detail from here on out.