I disagree with the author when it comes to bread machines. They're great! Many can be had for less than $100, and take most of the work and time out of making bread at home.
You basically dump the ingredients into the pan, set the programmer and push start. In about 2 hours, the wonderful aroma of baking bread fills your entire home! In another hour or so, it's ready to be sliced and buttered.
Below is the machine that I use. It's less than $70 from Amazon. Click on the image to read more about it.
You can make all types of bread (steakhouse, wholewheat, and many, many more), pizza crust, cinnamon rolls and etc.
I've experimented with a number of recipes and this is my favorite white bread recipe below, which I've developed over time. It lasts at least a week in a bread keeper, has a soft texture and taste, nice crust, and is great for sandwiches and toast for meals.
Add these to your machine in the order listed:
1.5 tbsp Gluten Flour (3 if you like a stiffer loaf)
2 tsp Bread Yeast
2 tbsp Sugar
3 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/4 Cup Potato Flakes
1/4 Cup Cooking Oil
1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1.5 tsp Kosher Salt
1 Cup + 1 tbsp of water
Set your machine for regular white bread, 1.5 Lb loaf and light crust. Hit start!
About three hours later (have knife & butter handy), You've made Bread!