Bread save

Very short bread loaf

Bread machine
As I mentioned, I am testing a $3 bread machine to mail to CA. Last night, I decided to "test" it again since I wanted bread, had one more box of bread, and really did want to see how a lighter crust would work. The medium crust was much harder and tougher than I like. My parsimonious mettle was tested.

Preparations
After I put the little baking bucket back in the machine, I decided to watch Bonanza. Ooops, I decided the bread mix needed to go in the machine. I was terribly distracted and out of sorts. Vertigo had plagued me for hours. Bonanza was paused and the bread machine filled with the right amount of water at the right temperature. I put everything in the right order into the bucket.

Mystery machine
Bread machines are a little mysterious to me. The machine goes "wig wag" like something going crazy. Then, there is silence that is deafening. Did it break? Then there is a whirr. I always just look through the handy, dandy little viewing window put there, I am sure, so that people will NOT open the lid and ruin the bread.

This is akin to my looking under the hood of a car. It feels that way. I look, see nothing, leave.

Buttons and screen
The little screen displays the results of pushing buttons for all sorts of decisions about the finished bread. Last night, this added to the drama of the mystery machine. Since I have no bread book, I looked up the directions last week. Maybe I forgot them or never learned them. Anyway, I figure that L1 means I have chosen 'light' and 'cycle 1.'

3:00
When I first saw this about 10:00 one morning, I tried to reset the time on the bread machine. The different numbers that appeared just confused me, so I tried again. Finally, I just gave up, unplugged the machine and replugged it. Okay, I know that you know that was the length of time the machine would run. I was confused last night, once again--repeat performance.

Fragrant bread
Only the fragrance of the bread alerted me that I could soon have sweet bread and butter. Yes, I was prepared for the loaf awaiting me. I peeked through the window, wondering why I could still see some of the bread mix and all of the yeast.

FAIL
After I yanked the bucket from the machine, I just figure the bread machine broke. Oh, NO! Not so! I forgot the put the little paddle in the machine, the paddle that kneads.

SAVE
As you can see in the bread picture, the loaf is about one-inch high. I cut off two crusts and ate them. Then, I remembered the leftover filling from the blueberry pie I baked from filling I froze last year. I mixed the cubed bread with the filling and left it overnight.

The result was delicious. My saving the pie filling and ruining the bread produced a real treat for me.

Your turn
My orphaned blueberry filling and a bread failure formed the perfect marriage and produced a really tasty treat. Don't you just hate it when things go spectacularly wrong and seem to cost you money to boot? What is your favorite food save? Or, what is your family's favorite save?