Making bread

is something I have done often - but only in a bread machine. I have never succeeded in kneading dough well enough by hand. My paws are simply not large enough or strong enough. Yes, I know there are "no knead" recipes around but they are not the same.

Our first bread machine came to us because my friend I... made her own bread. She used a machine. It was something she had bought to try and save money. In her case it did because she used the machine on alternate days. Her children knew that having bread in the house depended on them making sure it was used and cleaned.  Her family ate well on a very limited budget.

As I..'s family grew older and left home less bread was made but there was always fresh, hot bread if we went to visit. The Senior Cat really enjoyed that bread. 

"We should get a machine and do it too," he told me after Mum died. I hesitated. They are expensive to buy and the kitchen is tiny. Then I... phoned and said she had seen one in a second hand store. It looked almost new and there was, wonder of wonders, a short guarantee that the thing actually worked. At one tenth of the price of a new machine I asked her to get it. Next time she came out to us she brought it with her. It was the same make and model as hers. She gave me tips and I began to make bread. 

We did not eat a lot of bread but it was good to have, especially in winter when we could toast the resultant loaves to have with soup. At last I could make the heavy full grain bread the Senior Cat loved so much.

Sometimes I added one extra ingredient and sometimes I added another. I would put in extra pepitas or sunflower seeds. At other times I would add a cup of chopped walnuts. There were other things we tried as well. Very rarely I would leave the bread mix as it was or try a loaf with white flour. I took out some of the flour and added cornmeal. I took out a cup of the bread mix and added rye flour instead. The Senior Cat suggested things.

That bread machine finally gave up but it had more than paid to have it. The Senior Cat searched the internet and found a new machine. Phew! We had home made bread again. 

I always made the bread until he went into the nursing home. He told me quietly the bread there was "like soggy paper". I bought the very heavy German rye bread for him and the staff were good enough to make sure he had that for breakfast. The loaves are tiny and it keeps well so he would finish one before it went mouldy. 

At home I stopped making bread because I ate so little of it. I bought bread from the bakery. It is more expensive there but it is much better than what is available in the supermarket. I can freeze half the loaf.  When W... comes for lunch, as she does each month, I make bread if I need it. I make it for other special occasions. On Christmas day I am expected to provide a loaf made with white flour and cornmeal and cheese. It was an accidental combination but one of my nephews grumbles I do not make it often enough because it makes good toast.

Yesterday I was standing in the kitchen with Middle Cat and we were looking at what else needs to be packed.

"Are you going to take the bread machine?" she asked. 

I thought not. I won't have as much space wherever I go I told her.

Apparently this was not the right answer, "You know you really do need to take it. We need it and you know I haven't got any room for it."

I suspect it will get packed - and used.