Baked Bread

• Sunday night, I got this incredible urge to bake bread.  I have a bread machine although I've never used it.  I didn't want to use the bread machine this particular time either.  I've never made bread before and to be honest, I am NOT a baker.  I don't know why I had this urge, but homemade bread just sounded amazing.  The feeling of the dough in my hands, the smell of it in the oven, the incredible taste, and the satisfaction to know that I accomplished it.
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• I spent Sunday night and Monday morning searching for the perfect recipe.  Since I'm not a baker, I needed a recipe to follow 100% of the way.  After a couple of attempts with different kinds of bread, maybe then I'll get brave enough to adventure onto my own recipes.  I got the recipe here.  It turned out perfect.
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• Milk and Honey White Bread
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• Ingredients:
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• 2 pkg dry active yeast
• 2 1/2 cups warm milk (110 to 115 degrees)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 2 tsp salt
• 8-8 1/2 cups all purpose flour
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• Directions:
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• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add honey, butter, salt and 5 cups of flour; beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
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• Turn onto a floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
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• Punch dough down and shape into two loaves. Place in greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
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• Bake at 375° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cover loosely with foil if top browns too quickly. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

I only have 1 loaf pan and the recipe makes 2 loaves.  I made the other loaf into a round shape on a cookie sheet and it created a beautiful loaf of it's own.