I'm also a bread-machine

So I made bread on Friday. I've always thought that bread must be pretty hard to make. But I'm a novice and I did it, and it turned out pretty well. It doesn't take very much time. It needs time to rise, but the mixing and stuff is pretty easy. I got the recipe from an old hippie 70's vegetarian cookbook called Laurel's Kitchen. Its actually a great cookbook, back from the days when there were no fake meat products and vegetarians ate foods in combination (to form complete proteins such as corn and beans, rice and beans, etc. as per Diet for A Small Planet) a practice that has been proven to be unnecessary. But it still has great recipes. The introduction to the cookbook, which I had never read until now, talks about all of the things this blog is about. It talks about the need to reduce consumption, and to live more simple, fulfilling lives. It talks about the life of a "housewife" and how it could be interesting and creative (ie, making your own bread, knitting, etc) or dull drudgery such as using a bunch of machines. I just thought it was interesting.

I tried to find a similar recipe to what I used online, but couldn't find anything. Basically, all you need is a tbsp of brown sugar in a bowl of 2.5 cups (i think...i need to double check the amount) 100 degree water. then add a tbsp of active yeast. Then when it fizzes, add 3 cups whole wheat flour (stoneground is healthiest) and mix. add a tbsp of salt. then add 3 more cups of the flour, one cup at a time. when it gets doughy, take it out and put it on a floured surface and knead it. then put it in the bowl to rise. cover it and let it sit for a few hours until it doubles in size. take it out, put it in two oiled bread pans (divide it in half) and really push it down into those pans so there isn't any air trapped. then let it rise once more. preheat oven to 375. when its all the way risen and the oven is warmed fully, bake it for 40 minutes. it should have a hollow sound when you tap it after taking it out. that's about it.