Bought Myself a Bread Maker

I don't think I mentioned that I bought a bread machine. I bought it back in the spring and have been making a bread loaf once every week and a half or so. (We're not very big bread eaters at this home, though, now with school lunches, the consumption has risen.)

When I first brought it home, I was very excited. Read the manual, cleaned it out, plugged it in. Woo hoo, gonna make me some fresh bread. I measured all the ingredients, which took me 5 minutes, poured them into the bread machine pan, and then hit go and walked away.

It was all very anti-climatic.

This bread machine kinda took the joy out of making bread. I felt a little like someone who paid for an "escort". Yes, you get the goods but there is no romance.

I didn't get to feel the dough or knead it to get the right consistency. Didn't do peakaboo's under the dish towel to see how far along it was rising. Didn't get to poke it lovingly every chance I get during the proofing. I didn't feel that I could say that I made bread.

Now truth be told, before I bought the bread machine, I would usually use my stand mixer to knead the dough but it still is more hands on work. With the bread machine, there is very little clean up too. Felt so strange. As I said earlier, you get the goods, but there is no romance. No butterflies building along the way, no falling in love or getting-to-know your bread before you consume it.

Am I the only one who feels a little dirty after buying a bread machine?