Sorry for the frustration and THANK you for drawing my attention to the concerns.  I've updated my earlier post.  Muchas-gracias to all.

(That storm left me M I N D L E S S !!)

So, so good.
I used Mike Avery's Blueberry Sourdough Muffin recipe which can be found here

I doubled the recipe, but instead of doubling the amount of starter, I used one cup of golden beet puree (roasted beets, pureed with a little liquid), added a handful of ground up flax and poppy seeds and omitted the blueberries.

Then I baked them in cups! They were all either Pyrex or pottery mugs. Awesome. Awesome. I imagine other purees would be good too.

I'm not generally someone who spends hours at one website, and I'm not a poster on any other sites.  But this site has me hooked. I've only been a member here for a few weeks, but I have learned so much and enjoy searching this site for all it has to offer.  The answers and support here are just great.  Thank You to all who make it so interesting.

I'd like to offer my family's favorite banana bread recipe.  It is incredibly easy to make, has no eggs, and is very flexible.  I tend to bake by feel and sight.  (I measure baking soda in my hand- shades of my Grandmother) and this bread always comes out.  It is pretty dense, sweet and very moist.

• 1/2 cup shortening or canola oil, or butter etc. (I sometimes leavemost of it out and use 1/3c applesauce)
• 1 cup white sugar (you can cut this back too- I often use a scant 3/4 cup)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour ( have mixed this with WW, white WW and spelt with good results)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 very ripe mashed bananas (I use all different sizes and amounts- about 1 1/2c)
• 1-2 teaspoons pure vanilla
• chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan. (This can be made in any size pan or muffin tins just adjust the baking time)
2. In a large bowl, cream the shortening and sugar and add vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking soda and salt. Blend in the mashed bananas. Stir in the chocplate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until it tests done with a toothpick.

When I make this in the Kitchen Aid, I just spin the bananas in the bowl with the paddle to mash them, then continue with the recipe. Only one bowl to wash!

 I seem to make some form of banana bread every week this one is requested most often.  It's adapted from one here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Bread-VIII/Detail.aspx 

I'm new to baking-bread-from-scratch but trying to learn...

I just moved to a rural area in China where they don't sell bread. My husband misses it a lot, so I'm trying to learn to make it. However, what I'm reading on here sounds a bit intimidating. I've baked yeast breads in the states, but I had any ingredient I could want and just did step by step recipe instructions, without trouble. Here, I just have the basics.

I asked around on grouprecipes.com's bread group about ideas. I was recommended to check into the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes' master recipe and Irish Soda Bread (but I don't have cream of tartar here).

From what I've read online, the master recipe (and maybe some others?) would work for me in some ways, but not others. Here's what ingredients and equipment I do and do not have access to:

*UPDATE* - I looked around and found more available ingredients: soy flour, black and purple rice, sesame seeds, millet, sticky rice flour, corn flour and corn meal, lotus root starch, sorghum (milo) and sorghum flour.

INGREDIENTS I DO HAVE:

*white flour
*rolled oats (and a small mill if I need to grind them)
*buckwheat flour
*honey
*soy oil
*yogurt
*applesauce (can make it)
*fruits of all varieties, inc. dried like raisins
*white sugar
*brown sugar
*salt
*cinnamon (can buy the whole bark and use mill to make it ground)
*soy flour
*purple rice
*black rice
*sesame seeds
*(yellow) millet
*sticky rice flour
*corn flour
*corn meal
*lotus root starch
*sorghum (milo)
*sorghum flour

EQUIPMENT I HAVE:

*small countertop oven (with options for turning on both elements, just the top, or just the bottom)
*refrigerator
*electric stovetop
*cookiesheet
*rolling pin
*mixing bowls, spoons, that type of thing

I can get (from a city an hour and a half away):
*baking powder
*baking soda
*packets of dry yeast

I do NOT have & don't have access to:
*whole wheat flour
*bread flour
*shortening
*butter
*margarine
*sour cream
*cream of tartar
*'coarse' or kosher salt - not even sure what this is
*vanilla
*peel
*baking stone

Any ideas? I'm considering buying the book but not if I am lacking something for all the ingredients. General tips about baking without a baking stone, or about alternatives for it, and ingredient subtitutions related to my lists above, and that kind of thing are also appreciated. Thanks!

Just bought a new waffle maker and am looking for recipes for malted Belgian waffles.  Yum!

Thanks. 

in olden days the flour that was comenly available in Ireland was of a low gluten contant and did not bake a good quality of yeast bread.  Soda bread was mostly made with the brown flour  which was the easeist to get.  here in america we adjusted the formula to the flours we could get here.

little mixing and levened mostly with bakeing powder (which is soda and acids) is quick and easy to prepair

happy St patrick's day to all

IRISH SODA BREAD

SUGAR----8-OZ
SALT 1/2 OZ
SHORTENING 8-OZ

EGGS 4 OZ
BUTTER MILK 2 LB = 1 QUART
WATER 4 OZ= RINSE OUT THE MILK CONTAINER WITH THIS AND PUT IN SO YOU GET ALL THE MILK.

BREAD FLOUR  2 LB 8 OZ
CAKE FLOUR 1 LB
BAKING POWDER 3 OZ

RAISNES 8 OZ--MORE IF YOU WANT
CARRAWAY SEEDS OPTIONAL

MIX JUST UNTILL STICKY

weght 1 lb 2 oz for a one pound loaf make into balls without using to much force lose balls
flaten them down leaving the middle thicker then sides USING CAKE FLOUR
cut a cross in the loafs and sprinkel the tops with more cake clour if needed

bake them in 7 inch layer cake pans lightly greased 
8 inch layer cake pans 1 and 1/2 pounds
9 inch pans scale the balls about 2 pounds

7 or 8 inch pie plates work well also

OVEN TEMP 350 F

this mix makes about 6 round 1 pound loafs

I like to make pancakes.  I used to have a (cheap) waffle iron, but it bit the dust.  I never replaced it, thinking it was too specialized and not necessary.

Although pancake and waffle batters are very similar, each recipe is specifically "pancakes" or "waffles".  But what makes this a pancake recipe and that a waffle recipe?

I have a Nordicware "Christmas Tree" pan that I like using for the holidays, It's a ring of eight vertical Christmas trees.  It is tricky however, finding recipes that will be firm enough or hold together well enough to mold and unmold/release well with no issues.

If you want an example of that pan, I used it for a pandoro in this thread, there's a pic that will give you an idea of the pan.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/5074/panettone-that039s-not-too-dense

Oh my Gosh!!  I just made the BBA Cornbread and it was awsome.  You have to try it.  It was really easy, but plan ahead when you want to have the cornbread, because you have to soak the coarse cornmeal overnight.  We made a batch of chilli and cornbread for the cold evenings we have had and the cornbread disappered before we sat down to eat the chilli!!  I will make another and take some pics!  A++ on this one.

Matt