Leftover Homemade Bread

I just LOVE the smell of homemade bread. It brings back memories of coming in from a hard day's work to sit quit quietly, enjoying a slice or two of baked heaven, lightly covered with a thin coating of melting butter. A kitchen the smells of fresh bread should be known by every child everywhere.

Very rarely does a week go by that I don't make a loaf of fresh bread. Alas, as a friend calls it, I make cheater's bread. I use a bread machine. Not that I can't make bread the old fashioned way, I just find the machine to be more convenient.

Now, everyone has little quirks. One of my little quirks is the desire to not waste food. I grew up on farm and implicitly learned that food should be used and not allowed to rot away in the refrigerator or pantry. Nearly a decade ago I was cleaning the refrigerator and found a dozen or so little packets of Parmesan cheese; the kind you get when you order pizza. I also found a small bag of chives that needed to be consumed. Thus was the genesis of my left-over Homemade Bread recipe. It starts with a basic, simple white bread recipe:

• 3 3/8 C White, unbleached flour
• 3 T Sugar
• 1/4 C Milk
• 1 1/2 t salt
• 1 1/2 t butter
• 1 C water
• 1 1/2 t yeast

Now is where the fun began. I chopped up the chives and then crushed them. I added the chives and about six of the Parmesan cheese packets to the recipe and ended up with a lovely chive cheese bread. Here are some modifications to the recipe I have made to help save food that might otherwise be wasted.

Honey Bread
Replace the 3T sugar with 3 to 4 T honey. This enhances the aroma of the bread, giving it a somewhat floral smell. Using different kind of honey will ever so slightly change its taste and smell.

Oatmeal Bread
Replace the 3 3/8 C flour with 3 C flour and 1/2 C rolled oats or oatmeal. Instant or regular oatmeal is fine. This gives the bread a heavier texture and a tougher, crunchier crust. It also increases the fiber content.

Whole Wheat Bread
Replace the 3 3/8 C flour with 2 1/2 C white flour and 1 C whole wheat flour. The result is a nice whole wheat textured bread.

Rice Bread
Replace the 3 3/8 C flour with 3 C flour and 3/8 C rice flour. It doesn't change the taste but makes the crust very flaky and the bread has a little heavier texture.

Cheese Bread
Add a little cheese. Any sort will do, but aged cheddar or any cheese with a strong flavor is best. Experimentation is the best with cheese bread. Find what you like.

Potato Bread
Replace the 3 3/8 C flour with 3 C flour and add 1/2 C mashed potatoes. You may need to lessen the amount of water for this as well. This bread is a little heavier but holds its temperature and takes butter or your favorite bread spread very well.

Once you get the basic bread recipe down, start experimenting. If you have a failure, don't worry. You can always slice it up into cubes and let it dry into croutons. Or let it dry and crush it into bread crumbs for other recipes. In the worst case, simply toss it out for the birds.

Enjoy and have fun!