Caitlin teaches me how to make bread

I suppose this is technically a recipe from the Joy of Cooking, but when Caitlin and I made bread this weekend, she seemed to know it by heart, and add her own little twists, so I'll give her recipe cred.  The recipe below is my own re-write, drawing from what Caitlin told me as well as the recipe from the Joy of Cooking.  This bread is great-- we made one loaf with cinnamon and raisins, and I eat it with some awesome peach-raspberry jam I found.  The other loaf we made rosemary and sage, which is good with savory dinners or just for lunch.

Whole-Grain Bread

--Water, about 3 cups
--One packet of yeast
--One egg
--1/4 cup melted butter
--1.5 tsp salt
--Honey to taste, probably at least 1/2 cup
--Whole grain bread flour, about 8 cups but probably more

• Heat up some water.  Dump in one packet of yeast.  Let it sit for a while.  Observe how weird it is that you are cooking with something that is actually alive.
• Beat an egg in a small bowl with the melted butter and salt.  Add this to the yeast mixture. Mmm
• Pour in the honey.  (you can also use maple syrup or plain sugar) As Caitlin says, no matter how much honey you put in, it usually won't overwhelm the taste.  However, be warned that your bread will be on the sweet side, so if you're going for an herb bread like rosemary, you might want to ease up on the honey.  But definitely don't skip it all together.
• Add any other mix-ins you want: herbs, seeds, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.  This is the time to be adventurous.
• Add flour.  A lot.  Stir until you can't, then knead.  Don't knead it too much or else the bread will be too tough.
• Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise for at least an hour.  
• Transfer it to a small loaf pan, cover it again with plastic wrap, and let it rise for another half hour minimum.  More time is fine too.
• Bake it at 350 for 45 minutes.  Bask in the delicious smell that fills the air in your kitchen (or your whole house if you're lucky).  Think about how cool it is that you actually made bread.

Yield: 2 loaves