Baker's Dozen continued...

So along with the bagels we decided to make bread, none of us, Carly, Alyssa or I, had ever made bread and we had an hour to kill while the dough from the bagels was rising so we decided to make a loaf of bread.
Yummy Bread
3 1/2 cups of bread flour
1 package of rapid rise yeast (or 1 TB fresh yeast)
1/2 TB salt
1 1/3 cups warm water
1 TB unsalted butter

Combine the flour, yeast and salt in a bowl, add small amounts of water at a time until the it is a messy dough. Incorporate the butter, and then knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Let it rise in an oiled bowl for an hour (I turned the oven on to 300 degrees for 2 minutes then I turned it off and stuck the bread in...this really sped up the process.) After an hour give the bread a quick kneading and put in a buttered bread pan and loosely cover for 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 425 degrees, sprinkle some flour on the top to make a crisp crust and bake for 30-35 minutes. To test if it is done take the bread out of the pan and knock on the bottom with your knuckles if the bread makes a hollow sound its done, if not put it back in the oven! So that's my day of baking bread and bagels, for the first time!!! YAY! It was so much fun especially since the snow was falling all day and the house was warm and smelled like warm bread, soooo nice!