Bread making not so difficult, after all

"That's so difficult and time-consuming," people say when I givethem a loaf of homemade bread.

Not so. Bread-making stymies many a cook, but in truth, there isnothing to fear.

Probably the most common cause of bread failure is one simplemistake, killing the yeast with too-hot water. Better to err on theside of water that is too cool - though the bread won't rise as fastas it would have with lukewarm water. Remember the old saw aboutflicking a drop of liquid onto the wrist to see if a baby's bottleis warm enough? That's the temperature you want for bread. If it istoo hot for your wrist, or for a baby, it is too hot for bread.

Another good way to make bread is …