I'm Inlove with my Bread Machine

No, really! We met about 11 years ago and while I was intimidated by its advanced technical skills at first, after a few years I was hooked. I make Italian Herb Bread, Old Fashioned White bread (the family wasn't impressed with the wheat recipes), roll dough, pizza dough, and now.....bread bowls!

I have a Broccoli Cheddar soup recipe that I've finally got down (though having said that, I do still reserve the right to tinker with it at a later date if I want to). And what goes better with Broccoli Cheddar soup than eating it in a bread bowl? Nothing, I say!

I've only had one problem with that: I can't find any decent bread bowls at any of the stores around here! They're all soft and flaky on the outside, and that doesn't make for the best soup bowl.

So I decided to do something about it. Why couldn't I make my own? I can make just about anything else I've set my mind to. This shouldn't be too difficult, right? So I did a search on the internet (using my swagbucks toolbar--which I love since I get to earn free stuff doing what I already do anyway!). I found this article detailing how to make homemade bread bowls from frozen bread dough. I thought, why can't I just use my French Bread recipe and run it in the dough cycle instead of the bread cycle and then follow the directions from the point of shaping the thawed bread dough. So that's exactly what I'm doing now. So far, so good. Keep your fingers crossed that it works for me! I'll have to update you, but I don't see any reason why it shouldn't work. I know my way around dough;)

I'll share my recipes for tonight's dinner here for those of you who are interested:


Broccoli Cheddar Soup

5 cubes chicken bouillon
1 tsp Worcestershire
1 tsp garlic
4 cups water
2 cups half and half or whipping cream
24 oz chopped broccoli
5 diced potatoes
¼ cup butter/margarine
½ cup onion
¼ cup flour
4 cups cheddar cheese
Season salt (to taste)
Mrs. Dash original seasoning (to taste)

Boil water, bouillon cubes, Worcestershire, cream, garlic, seasoning and potatoes. Cook until potatoes are tender. Add Broccoli.

Melt butter in pan. Add onion and cook until tender. Slowly add flour to make paste. Add mixture to soup slowly, mixing well to avoid clumping. Add cheese and mix well. Do not boil.

French Bread Dough

1¼ cups+3 tbs water (room temperature)
1 tbs butter/margarine
1 tbs olive, vegetable or canola oil
4 cups flour
1 ½ tbs sugar
1 ¾ teaspoon salt
2 tsp active dry yeast

(Use the link to the bread bowl article to finish)