Why bread making is great!

I just love baking bread - it's so easy and satisfying! I let the breadmaker do the mixing and kneading (because I'm too lazy and the machine does a better job anyway) then I remove the dough, let it prove a little and bung it in the oven. Today I made lovely soft rolls.

So here are my top five reasons why you should bake your own bread.

1. It tastes far, far, far better than that shop bought, ready sliced stuff.

2. It saves you money. My basic recipe is 10fl oz warm water (free from tap), 2 1/2 tbsp sugar, 2 1/2 tbsp dried milk, 1 1/4 tsp salt, 2 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil (those 4 ingredients can't come to much more than 15 pence worth), 3 cups of bread flour (between 20 pence worth if you buy standard flour and 50 pence worth if you buy organic premium flour) and 1 1/4 tsp dried yeast (about 5p.) So your loaf costs between 40p and 70p, plus the cost of heating the oven. You can batch bake or cook alongside other things to save on fuel costs.

3. You will save loads of polythene bags from landfill - the ingredients all come in paper bags or metal cans.

4. You can adjust your ingredients to suit your taste and your dietary needs - you can lower the salt and sugar (although these ingredients do help the yeast to work) or you can make your bread completely organic or vegan.

5. Everyone is always really impressed!