My Life As ME

The world is my playground.
I am at home everywhere I go.

I am A Mother. I live and breath for my children, though there have been times..... They are my saving grace, the reason I am here. They never cease to amaze me with what they are capable of yet are so fragile I feel the need to wrap them in bubble wrap and never let them out of the house.

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5.25
2013

Soft and Fluffy Sandwich Bread
The bread is soft, fluffy, light, and moist. It’s made with a secret ingredient that keeps it moist and fluffy: a cup of oatmeal is kneaded into the dough, which also lends a bit of chewiness and texture. The bread is versatile for anything from sandwiches to grilled cheese to French toast. It’s an easy recipe, even for bread-making novices. Total time from start to finish is ~3.5 hours, most of which is downtime.

YIELD: one 8-by-4-inch loaf PREP TIME: 15 minutes COOK TIME: 30 minutes TOTAL TIME: 3 hours, 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS:

1 cup boiling water
1 cup old-fashioned whole rolled oats (I use 1 minute oats)
2 cups all-purpose flour (bread flour may be used and will create a heartier, chewier bread)
1/4 cup water (from the tap, not hot and not cold)
2 to 3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/4-ounce packet
pinch salt, optional and to taste
DIRECTIONS:

In a small bowl, pour boiling water over oatmeal, stir to combine. Set aside and let cool until it reaches room tempter

While it is cooling combine yeast, 1/4 cup warm water, brown sugar and honey. Let sit for about 15 minutes until yeast foams up.

Once oatmeal is cooled off and yeast is foamy combined into one large bowl. Add salt and oil and mix until well combine. Add flour and mix until a moist, shaggy dough forms. The dough is fairly moist and sticky, but resist the temptation to add additional flour, unless it’s so moist that it won’t combine. Conversely, if it’s too dry, add up to one-quarter cup water. Erring on the side of too moist is always preferable to dry in bread-making.
After kneading, turn the dough out into a large, greased bowl, cover with plasticwrap, and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 90 minutes, or until doubled in size.
After the dough has doubled, punch it down, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it for about 3 minutes. With your fingers, shape it into a 10-inch by 6-inch rectangle, just eyeball it. The long side should be slightly longer than the baking pan. Then, fold the short sides in so that dough is about 8 inches in length. Roll to form a tight cylinder. There’s not much to roll, about 3 turns. Optionally, when rolling, sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger. Or go savory with dill, chives, or thyme.
Spray an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan with floured cooking spray (or grease and flour the pan) and place the cylinder in the pan, seam side down. Cover with plasticwrap, and allow dough to rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled, about 60 to 75 minutes.
In the last minutes of rising, preheat oven to 425F, place an empty cookie sheet or metal pan on the rack under neath the middle one. Once the dough has risen to about 2 inches above the edge of the bread loaf pan pour 1 cup of water into the empty pan it the oven to create steam then turn the oven tempture down to 250f. Bake for about 30 minutes or until domed, golden, and puffy. When tapped, it should sound hollow. The internal temperature should reach 210F. Let bread cool in pan for 5 to 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
I store bread by wrapping a fully cooled loaf in plasticwrap, and place it inside a gallon-size Ziplock, where it stays fresh for about 5 days. Bread freezes very well and can be made from start to finish, cooled, and placed in a freezer-safe airtight container or a ziplock for up to 3 months. I like this bread toasted and with butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon-sugar or Cinnamon-Sugar Butter. It makes great Grilled Cheese, French Toast, and Homemade Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches.