good eating {best bread machine recipe}

we have our very own santa claus, and he brings us goodies year round, like heirloom tomatoes, wild mushrooms, smoked trout, and venison. today, he arrived at our doorstep with a handful of morel mushrooms that he'd foraged on property. i had never seen morels before, let alone eaten them. (they look spongy, like something grown underwater.) morels aren't something you typically pick up at the supermarket; they only grow a couple weeks out of the year, and you have to special order them, unless you too have a generous mushroom-hunting friend. jim won't eat mushrooms, so i got to enjoy them by myself, sauteed in butter. they were meaty and delicious--a wonderful, unexpected treat!

before dylan was born, jim and i had a weakness for take-out. we both love to cook, but we can get lazy. now that we're down to one income, we're trying to reform our lazy ways, and we've been giving our appliances a workout. i've already mentioned my love affair with the immersion blender and homemade soup. jim works wonders with the waffle iron and bread machine. our favorite go-to recipe is a three seed wheat bread, and this week he expanded his repertoire to include garlic coriander naan. it was great with homemade hummus.

having moved from pittsburgh to a small town, we already had to give up access to indian, vietnamese, middle eastern, and thai goodness, so cutting back on the pizza or sandwiches that abound locally is really not such a sacrifice. with a little time, we are making great food, saving money, and eating more healthfully.

do you have a breadmaker collecting dust in a cupboard? try out this recipe that we got from the back of the bob's red mill flax seed package, (but you can get cheaper flax anywhere that sells bulk grains.)

1 1/4 c warm water
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 c whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour (could probably make with all whole wheat, but we haven't tried yet)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c flax seed
2 Tbsp sunflower seeds
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
2 tsp active dry yeast

it says to add ingredients like your machine recommends. jim adds the dry ingredients, excluding the yeast, and puts the salt around the perimeter. he makes a small well in the center and puts the yeast there. then he adds the wet ingredients, and starts the machine, using the deluxe rapid rise setting. if it looks dry he adds more water and if it looks wet he adds more flour. wonderful, homemade bread is ready in one hour!