<h3>Oatmeal Bread</h3>

For those who have not entered the world of homemade bread making, here's a great recipe to get started with. It comes from a wonderful food blog, the Homesick Texan. Take a peek over at her blog for some "delish" recipes and some southern hospitality.

This bread is great for beginners because it requires no kneading and seems pretty fail proof. It makes two nice size loaves, so plan on sharing one if your household is small. It tastes great fresh from the oven and makes fabulous toast with a little butter and a smear of jam. It think you are going to like it!

Old Fashioned Oatmeal Bread

from Homesick Texan

Ingredients:
2 cups of boiling milk
1 cup of oats, rolled or steel cut (not instant)
2 teaspoons of salt
1 egg
1/2 cup of honey
4 tablespoons of shortening
5-5 1/2 cups of flour
2 packets of yeast
1/2 cup of warm water

Method:
1. Add oatmeal to hot milk and let stand for two hours.
2. Dissolve yeast in warm water.
3. Mix yeast and other ingredients with oatmeal (start with five cups of flour and add more a little bit at a time until dough is smooth).
4. Form into loaves, and either fill two loaf pans or place in balls on a parchment-paper lined sheet.
5. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about an hour).
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.

Notes from the Homesick Texan: While I usually balk at shortening, I wanted to be true to the recipe so I used Spectrum Organic Shortening. I also kneaded the bread, but as I mentioned—that isn't necessary. To make the bread pretty, you can brush the loaves with a milk wash (1 T of milk and 1 T of water) and then sprinkle oats over the top.