Before humans developed tools for hunting and killing animals, they lived largely on plant foods, especially grains, cereals and bread. Cereals and grains are our most important source of nutrition. Even dedicated meat eaters are dependent on cereal products, since the animals they eat feed on grains and cereals and convert them into the animal protein that constitutes meat. Cereals are the basis of innumerable breads, pastries, cakes and puddings. The odor of home-baked bread is the essence of nostalgia: some estate agents today advise vendors to bake bread so that buyers will be seduced by the fragrance wafting through the house.

Whether the house-selling strategy works or not, making your own bread is fun. It is time-consuming, but much of the time is taken up while the bread dough is rising, or proving, and you can go away and do something else while you wait. Basically, bread is a mixture of flour, water, sugar, salt and a raising agent such as yeast. The ingredients are mixed into a stiff dough, which you then pummel, or knead, strenuously with your fists and fingers until the texture is smooth and springy, which means that the gluten in the flour has developed and is ready to hold the shape of the finished loaf. The yeast feeds on the sugar and flour, producing a gas that permeates the dough and causes it to rise. Fresh yeast looks rather like putty and is available from bakers, or use dried yeast, following the instructions on the packets.

But seriously, with today's modern technology, you need not huff and puff if you have the right tools for making bread effortlessly. And I have to introduce my readers to some wonder bread machines from WIZE. Right at their main page of the website, you can actually search for the best bread machine(s) for whichever kind of bread , dough or pastry you are intending to use it for. And after clicking on the GO search button, you will be directed to the next page where a list of bread machines are recommended to you, based on loaf capacity. And the best part? The prices offered are really affordable, considering that you can use bread machines to not only make bread (other kinds of pastry machines are available too, pasta, gluten-free bread, etc). Some bread machines actually come with extra nice functions that can really help you make a better choice too. I checked out the Cuisinart CBK-200 Bread Maker and it comes with jam function, 16 different programs and most importantly, timer capability. I mean, you wouldn't want to make a bread and ended up forgetting that it is baking in the bread machine while you are busy with making more bread, do you?

Anyway, before I go off and check out more wonderful bread machines for my own personal use, I shall leave you, my readers, with a basic and easy bread recipe which you can try out if you prefer to make bread the old, hard way. Here goes:

Basic White Bread

For two loaves, you will need 1 kg of plain flour, 600ml of water and 1 tablespoon each of salt, white sugar and brewer's yeast. Heat the water to comfortably hot and dissolve the salt and sugar in it. Cream the yeast with a little of the liquid and mix it with the main liquid.

Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the liquid. Mix into a fairly stiff dough and knead well for about 5 minutes. Put the dough into a clean greased bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise - about 2 hours.

Divide the risen dough in half; it will collapse, but will rise again with the second proving. Mould each half into a loaf shape, put into greased loaf tins and leave to rise for about 30 minutes. Bake in a very hot oven for about 40 minutes. Alternatively, bake in a bread machine for better ease of mind while using the same recipe.