Bread for Dad

Lots of bread recipes on the web.  Millions of them (yet one more series, from Betty Crocker).  The most basic bread machine white bread I know of, and use, is:

2 pound loaf of bread:

• 13 oz of milk (1.5 cups and 2 T.) - should be warm.  75-85 degrees.  Don't boil it.
• 2 T. butter
• 4 cups of flour - most recipes say use bread flour.  Regular flour works just fine
• 1.5 t. salt
• 2.5 T. sugar
• 2.25 t. dry yeast - little less if you use bread machine yeast, but it really doesn't matter, just use 2.25.

1.5 pound loaf of bread:

• 11 oz of milk (1.25 cups + 2 T.) - should be warm.  75-85 degrees.  Don't boil it.
• 2 T. butter
• 3.33 cups flour
• 1.25 t. salt
• 2 T. sugar
• 2 t. dry yeast

For egg bread, cut 1/3 of the milk and substitute with 2 eggs in both cases.

Banana Bread

Lee was looking for the banana bread recipe I use. Here you go:

• 1 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. butter, softened (try not to melt it)
• 2 eggs
• 1.5 c mashed ripe TR bananas (avoid frozen - and make sure they're going a little black. Wait! You can't get free fruit anymore - just use store bananas, approximately 3-4 of medium size).
• 1/3 c. water
• 1 2/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 t. baking soda
• .5 t. salt
• .25 t. baking powder

Oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom of bread/loaf pan. Spray works fine, but I think I like to use a bit of butter best. Mix butter and sugar in mixing bowl. Blend in eggs. Add the water and the bananas. Beat lightly. Stir in remaining ingredients. Don't overstir. You'll get something more like a muffin or cake if you overstir. That's no good. It's not very banana bread like. I did this with the last two loaves I made because I was using frozen bananas from the fridge and wanted to avoid the big chunks of banana Eryn doesn't like. Eryn and Pooteewheet liked it fine, but I didn't like it at all, between the cakelike taste and odor the freezer bananas picked up - and kept Ming's loaf so he couldn't taste my shame. If you like nuts, stir in 1/2 c. (I never do...ick. I'm slightly allergic to walnuts). Bake until a toothpick or knife in the center comes out clean. Should be 55-60 minutes. Put it on a cooling rack and run a knife around the edges quickly. Supposedly it'll pull free as it cools, but I've had a few instances where it stuck as I tipped it out and ended up with chunks out of the side. Cool for 5-10 minutes and then remove from pan (just tip it over). Eat it. The center will still be crumbly, but if you like the ends, those will stay together and will be nice and hot. I tend to hand over a loaf to my family that's only the center. Sort of like eating the ears off a rabbit.