Rising to the Occasion

My bread dough is in loaf pans at this very moment, rising, I hope, to fill the pans before I turn the oven on to bake the delicious stuff. It's my first attempt and I know I messed some of the steps up already.

• I got my milk too hot, for instance, and I think that may have affected the yeast.
• I forgot to punch it down while it was still in the bowl after the first rise. (I read that the purpose of this is to redistribute the gases that build up due to the yeast, and the punching should be more of a firm pressing.)
• I don't think my bread is in a warm enough environment to rise correctly.

But it looks good. Maybe it will bake well, too.

I can see the benefit of having a heavy duty mixer. Although the kneading part was not difficult, stirring in all of that flour took a lot of effort. I'll see if we can rectify that situation for Christmas!

I can't wait for my bread to come out of the oven!