I was domestic today....

It doesn't happen often. I must have really been procrastinating about packing up the Christmas stuff because today I made two loaves of homemade bread and beef stew. Whatever it takes to make my pretty decorations stay out a little longer. :o)
I have to share about Tupperware measuring cups. I had a set back in the 70's when I was first married. They were those lovely colors of yellow, orange and green. Actually, I think those colors are back in but I'm not going there again. Once was enough! :o) Anyway, I loved them because of the sizes included the set. There were six and over the years I've lost one or two. Before the holidays, I was invited to a party and ordered a set in red. Oh la la, who can resist red? They look orange in the picture but they're not, it's more of a cherry red. Mmmmmm!

Back in the day of making buttercream icing for cakes, when I would double or triple a batch, it would give me odd measurements for the Crisco, like 1/3 or 2/3 of a cup. Have you noticed unless you go to some high falootin' baking place, you only get measuring cups in a set of 4; 1/4 cup, 1/3, 1/2 and 1 cup. And when measuring yucky stuff like Crisco, the last thing I want to do is measure 1/3 twice for 2/3 of a cup! Yeah, call me lazy but it's twice the work and I don't bake that often. I want it to be fun, not extra work. The TW ones come in 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 3/4 and 1 cup. I used them today to make the bread. The recipe is pretty easy. I'll include it in the end in case you're trying to procrasinate doing something else. LOL
I got a new KitchenAid mixer for Christmas so I used it for the dough. This was the first "rise" in the oven with a tray of warm water underneath.

This is after the second "rise" and waiting for the oven to heat up for the baking.

And here's the finished bread. I only ate about 5 slices with butter. Ohhhh, my achin' belly. LOL

Here's the recipe. If I can do it, you can do it! :o)

White Bread

2 pkgs. active dry yeast

3/4 c. warm water (105-115 degrees)

2 2/3 c. warm water

1/4 c. sugar

1 Tbsp. salt

3 Tbsp. shortening

9-10 c. all purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in 3/4 c. warm water. Sitr in 2 2/3 cups water, sugar, sal, shortening and 4 1/2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Mix enough of the remaining flour (first with spoon, then by hand) to mkae dough easy to handle. Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl turning greased side up. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. The dough is ready if an indentation remains when touched.

Punch down the dough and divide in half. Roll each into a rectangle, 18 x 9 inches. Roll up, beginning at the short side. With the side of hand, press down on each end to seal; fold under loaf. Place seam side down in a greased loaf pan, 9x5x3 inches. Brush the loaves with butter. Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Heat over to 425. Place loaves on a low rack so taht the tops of the pans are level or slightly above the center of the oven. For even browning, the pans should not touch each other or the sides of the oven. Bake 30-35 minutes or until the loaves are a deep golden brown and sould hollow when tapped. If the loaves are browning too quickly, cover with foil for the last 15 minutes. Immediately remove from the pans and coolona wire rack.