The Best thing since sliced bread

Bread. One of the oldest foods in the whole word, and we are still eating it and loving it.  Many people shudder at the thought of making their own bread, not even knowing where to begin.  Although bread is not difficult to make by any means, it is crucial that you follow the directions exactly.  Even if you don't get it perfect the first time, don't give up!  The consistency of bread can even be affected by the weather- the amount of moisture in the air, so it may not even be anything that you can control. When you have a loaf in the oven, don't be opening the door and slamming it shut, because that can affect how poofy it turns out to be (or how well your bread rises). 

If you are going to begin your bread making attempts, may I suggest that you start out with a banana bread, or this Irish Soda Bread. 

Irish Soda Bread

It is called Soda bread because it has Baking Soda instead of yeast.  Yeast bread you have to mix up, let it rise, knead it, let it rise again and bake it. Soda bread is easy and very fast because you don't have to let it rise. Just mix it up and stick it in the oven for an hour.  It is absolutely delicious, and has a sweeter taste to it than French bread (for example), but it would make great sandwiches. It is crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. I find it better with honey or jelly than garlic butter, but you may like it either way.  It calls for Cream of Tartar- a white powder found in the spice section in the baking aisle of the store.  This is also used when making meringues.  Just make sure you have buttermilk on hand!  Since you won't probably use the whole jug of buttermilk, just use the rest when you make pancakes :) 

My favorite pancakes  you don't have to put bananas and pecans in them, you can put in blueberries, strawberries, apples, coconut, almonds or chocolate chips.  They turn out fantastic though :)

Who doesn't love cornbread? 
Baked or fried, it is always delicious.
Well, if you don't feel like waiting for
it to get done in the oven,
or you don't want the oil from the frying-
try it in a waffle maker.  Grab a box of Jiffy cornbread mix next time you are at the store for 59 cents and bust out your Belgian (or any other) waffle maker you have and have delicious, fluffy cornbread on your plate in 2 minutes!  One box made 3 whole waffles in my waffle maker, which turns out to be 12 pieces.  I put a little sour cream on them instead of whipped cream on waffles, but honey is still always good too.  FYI- the recipe for the cornbread waffles is on the side of the Jiffy box.  These are by the biscuit mixes on the baking aisle in the store in a little blue and white box.  Enjoy!