String and Sellotape.

Thinking of toast (like you do) , after of about a week-and-a-bit of using the bread maker, we are well chuffed.

We've used the recipes in the booklet that came with it - variations of strong flours, dried yeast, butter (1 oz/25g), and water or semi-skimmed milk. When my twelve year old girl said the 50/50 wholemeal and white, used toasted on one side as a bacon butty, was "The best bread she has ever tasted", we knew we'd cracked it. She hates wholemeal bread :)

My only complaint would be the length of time it takes. It can vary from 2-5 hours depending on the recipe. The up-side is that it has a timer, and for most stuff you can put the ingredients in and (on the bread maker we have) calculate what time you want it ready by, and have the lovely smell of cooked bread wafting through the house when you get up......

Oh, by virtue of the way the bread pan is, bigger loaves aren't longer, as you'd find if you made your own or bought them in a shop. They're taller. The downside of taller is that you have to lay it on it's side to cut it, and you might have to halve a slice to fit it in the toaster :)

There's a 45 minute Pizza base thingy (amongst other things) on ours. In that mode it acts as a mini mixer and riser. Then you have to let it rise again in the oven at 40 C. If you're like me and the lowest setting is 'slow cook', that's about 120 C. We warmed up the oven for 15 mins on slow, then turned it off. That worked. The family were well impressed. I was. With the cost.....

Can't comment on those bread maker ready mixes you can pick up from the supermarket. Bear says they cost about 70 pence (about a dollar?). Well, that's about the price of a half-decent 800g white loaf. We calculated we can make two loaves for that.

*Update* Aged parent turned up with a 500g Morrisons bread readymix containing about 10% each of sunflower seeds and oats. I didn't ask how much it cost (and oddly, Morissons doesn't seem to have a search function on their page.)

Anyway. Add 500g mix to bread pan. Add 300 ml water. Bread pan in maker, set, according to the destructions in the book to 'Bake Rapid Large'. Timer Shows 1 hour 55 mins. Wait. Voilà. Simples :)

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Funny what odd little skills you pick up. I've had a plastic skull knocking around for yonks. Being a bit of a 'MacGyver' and a fan of stuff like Forensic Detectives, I thought I'd borrow some of Tot's plasticine, and do a facial reconstruction. I was well impressed with the outcome. In fact, for someone who's drawing skills are very cartoony, I was amazed how realistic it looked.

I would have loved to have posted a photo, but Tots nicked the plasticine back. I mean sheesh... :(

Thinking of MacGyver, I'm going to have think of a way to stop kittens nicking bacon butties the moment I turn my back. That and me chicken. They pinched me chicken drumsticks !!!.

Little monkeys.