You’re welcome! I plan to order some too.
I don’t know how I confused squash with melons last night, guess it was too late and I was way too tired to think straight.
How to make homemade bread (white):
Grease a breadpan, and (optional) shake in some cornmeal around the bottom, dumping out the excess.
Put one cup of lukewarm water into a glass bowl, then add two teaspoons of sugar, stir to dissolve. Add a tablespoon of yeast, stir in with wooden spoon and set aside. The yeast will dissolve, multiply, and raise up a “sponge” of bubbles, as it sits.
In a large bowl, put 3 cups of flour, one teaspoon of salt. Stir to mix thoroughly. When yeast mix has about a half inch or more of bubbles on top (called the “sponge”) pour it into the flour mix. Add two tablespoons of softened butter or other oil. Mix thoroughly, dough will be very thick. Use the dough to sweep the flour off the sides, until the bowl is nearly clean.
Turn dough out onto floured surface, and knead vigorously for at least 9 minutes (I use a timer). If dough is too sticky, add flour a bit at a time until it no longer sticks.
When kneading is properly finished, the dough will be very smooth, almost satiny, and it will spring back a bit if you poke it with your finger.
Then, brush the entire dough ball with a bit of oil or butter, and put it back in the mixing bowl. Cover it with a damp towel, and sit it in a warm place until the dough has approximately doubled from the original size.
“Punch” the dough down, and shape it into a loaf. Put it in the breadpan, cover it again with a damp cloth, and put it back into the warm place to rise again. Do not add any flour after the first rising, it will not cook well.
When the dough has again risen to double the size it was when you put it in the pan, place in the oven at 350 degrees until it’s warm brown on top, approximately 45 minutes, depending on the oven. If you take it out too soon, the middle will be raw.
Sit the bread in the pan on top the stove. If you want a soft crust, brush it with butter while it’s hot. If you prefer crunchy crust, let it cool with no butter.
If you try to slice hot bread, it won’t work well. Of course, that never stopped my family—they just tear off chunks and butter them, eating them hot.
Just a note: the smell of baking bread is so wonderful, people will be popping in and out of the kitchen asking how soon it will be done. Tell them you’ll let them know. :D
Suggestion: after the bread has cooled, if you have any leftover, slice it and toast it. It’s almost like baking it fresh again....
Variation: for Italian bread, add oregano, rosemary and sage to the flour before adding yeast. Use olive oil.
For french bread, use real butter, and for second rising, stretch dough into two thick sticks onto a cookie sheet, use it for the baking also. Before baking, brush tops with egg white or milk.
Other: Add grated cheese to the flour, and knead it in with the flour. Brush the top with egg whites, and sprinkle sesame seeds, poppy seeds, finely chopped garlic, or all three onto the tops before baking.
General thoughts: Yeast produces the gas that makes bread rise. Contact with metal will kill the yeast, so always use wooden spoons and glass bowls. Yeast can be frozen, and kept nearly forever that way. However, if you don’t get a yeast sponge, your bread will not rise. If you want to shape the bread, for instance into a braid, do it after the first rising and before the second. The smell of baking bread is a visceral feeling of “home.” There is peace and comfort in it.