The Kitchen Aid quickly turned the flour, water, yeast, salt and oil into a big blob of goo.  The recipe then instructed me to dump the goo onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until it was smooth.

Now, I had never kneaded before as I have never kneaded to.  (sorry)  So, I wasn’t really sure of the hows and whys of kneading.   But, after pushing the dough around on the counter for a few minutes, I concluded that it must be ready to rise.   So, back into the bowl with a damp towel to cover in a warm location.  (note: next time I will also lightly flour my hands)

An hour later, at the end of the first rising, my daughter, the bread maker, dropped in for a visit.   The blob had doubled in size and was ready to be divided for the second rising.  So, she helped me divide the dough and give it a second kneading.  “fold, push, turn, repeat”  that is the secret to kneading.   Then, two blobs went onto two cookie sheets for the next rising.

At the end of the second rising, I had two 12 inch loaves of bread ready for  baking.  45 minutes, my efforts paid off when two perfect loaves emerged from the oven.   That night at supper, I cut off a slice and slathered it with butter.  Then, I bit in.  It was moist, tender and tasty.  The proof is in the pudding or in this case, the loaf.