Karen McLaughlin

Sandra said:

" I've wondered seriously, though, whether the kneading by hand from the
beginning might be an important part of making the bread be "right" and
good. The warmth of human hands to get the yeast going, the positive
human energy,
maybe the salt off people's skin, maybe who knows what off skin that we
don't
even know, that has for thousands of years made bread good and real?"

Oh, yes, a thousand times yes! I totally think that bread machine bread is
a
pale substitute for that which has been hand-kneaded (no offense to anyone
here who has a bread maker <g>).

I've been making my own bread for several years, and I find everything
about
the process kinda mysterious and seductive (not to mention therapeutic).
Family and friends who know I make my own bread have offered to buy me a
bread maker in the past but I've always said "no way" (well, more tactfully
than that <g>). There's something about that human touch that makes it
extra
special (isn't that true of everything, though?)

Karen