What makes me qualified to write foodie books and cookbooks? I can cook up a storm and I love food. I have battled chronic health problems that forced me to learn how to cook with wholesome, natural ingredients. However, I shun the idea that healthy eating has to taste like twigs and leaves. I love food and have discovered that real food can and does taste better than the white bread and baloney diet I was raised on. 

If you want to dive into the most sensuous experience ever, to have a party in your mouth with each bite, and have "MMMMMMM" become your most uttered sound, read my upcoming REAL FOOD books and cookbooks. I promise you will be glad you did.

Here's a little tidbit from the bread book:

Why make bread at home when you can buy it from a bakery?

Not only is home made bread better tasting, I believe it is better for you. Commercial bread is usually so adulterated, it's a wonder it can be called bread. Real bread is a healthy, robust food, a delight to the senses, and it rewards your body with health-giving nutrients.  

Bread is one of  mankind’s oldest staple foods. What a shame some companies degenerate it to a gluey, tasteless substance with about as much nutritional value as vinyl. Even so-called "artisan" or bakery breads are often made with stabilizers; brominated, bleached flour; and dough conditioners. This destroys the taste and the nutritional value. I know there are exceptions, but they are just that—exceptions. If you are interested in the actual nutritional content, see: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/baked-products/4878/2

Another really good reason to bake your own bread is the incredible variety of breads you can make that aren't available in your local bakery or mega-mart. The creative potential is endless. I have a cookbook with over 500 recipes for bread! I've tried a lot of them, some multiple times. Of course I change them up. I can't really stick to a recipe, so my end product is always a surprise.

In the 21st Century, it seems that I am not alone in wanting to return to some basics. Home vegetable gardening, sewing, baking, and canning are all experiencing an enormous upsurge in popularity. Maybe we are just sick and tired of being jerked around by mega food companies trying to convince us that Ketchup is a vegetable and that we need all those chemicals in our food. 

I think fewer people are buying into the hype that allows manufacturers to make edibles that are devoid of nutrition and high on calories and possibly dangerous chemicals. The REAL FOOD movement is on and I am in the front row. 

Real Food Cooking is a series of small, downloadable eBooks that will offer Bread, Sourdough, Pies, Cookies, Canning, Soups, Slow-Cooker, Juicing, Ice Cream, and more. I'm having so much fun writing and sharing. 

Oh, and I almost forgot to add, the books are written with humor and fun. The recipes ar all tested, and easy for any beginner but elegant enough for a seasoned cook. I even include how to make great bread in your food processor.

Look for the announcement of the first book, The Dough Also Rises—How to Make Great Bread. It will be on Amazon, and Barnes & Noble as ebooks and from MetaStudies as PDF. 

Sample Recipe from The Dough Also Rises:

Food Processor White Bread

Unless you have a very large, heavy duty food processor, you will only be able to mix one loaf at a time. 

The first time I made food processor bread, I was astounded with how good it was. And, it is so easy to do. 

Use the plastic dough blade

Makes 1 Loaf

Cooking Temperature 375 Deg. F, Deg. 190 C

Note: Put your flour in the refrigerator for 1 hour before making this. Processors heat up the dough and it could get too hot. Also use cool liquids.

Adapted from Cuisinart.com/recipes

1 package rapid rise/instant yeast

2 teaspoons honey

1/3 cup warm water (105-115 Deg. F, 40-46 Deg. C)

4 cups bread flour (+ - 1/4 cup or so)

2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter, in 1-inch pieces

1 tablespoon sesame seed oil (or use all butter)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup cold water

3 tablespoons sesame seeds

____________________

Insert dough blade. 

Into the processor bowl, add flour, butter and oil if using, salt, yeast.

Process until combined, about 10 to 15 seconds. 

Add cool water to flour/yeast mixture. 

With machine running, add liquid through small feed tube in a fine stream.

Once dough cleans the sides of the work bowl and forms a ball, process for 45 seconds to knead the dough. 

Place dough in an oiled bowl about twice the size of the dough. 

Cover and place in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

Spray a large loaf pan with vegetable oil cooking spray. Or, divide dough in half for two smaller loaves. 

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and use your fist to punch down and deflate the dough. 

Place on a countertop or wooden bread board.

Roll dough into a rectangle. Beginning with a short end, roll up the dough jellyroll fashion. Pinch the seam and ends tightly to seal. 

Place in oiled or nonstick sprayed loaf pan and cover with a cloth.

Let rise until dough is just above the tops of the pan, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat oven.

Bake for 40 minutes.

Test for doneness 200 Deg. F, 93 Deg. C internal temperature or thump the top and bottom of the loaf. If it sounds hollow, it is probably done. 

Cool completely on a rack.

Happy Eating!