INGREDIENTS
whole wheat flour
water
non-instant powdered milk
7 grain cereal
rolled oats
wheat flakes
rye flakes
honey
yeast
salt (optional)
ginger

YIELD:  2 loaves

The following recipe routinely takes between 3 hours 15 minutes and
3 hours 30 minutes from the beginning until the bread comes from the
oven. It involves a total of four risings, one as the sponge, two as
the dough, and one as loaves.

IMPORTANT! In order to bake bread successfully there are two things
   to remember:

1.      All ingredients must be warm, that is, not too cool and not
too hot. Yeast requires an environment of 85 to 105 degrees
Fahrenheit in which to work;

2.      The only two ingredients which should be carefully measured
are the water and yeast. The water determines the overall
quantity of bread and the yeast determines the speed at which
rising takes place and the amount of air in the bread. Too
little will result in a good bread, but one which tries your
patience; too much will result in a large air hole running
the length of the bread which is a definite embarrassment to
the baker.  C=:-(

METHOD

1.      Take the flour from the fridge or other cool spot and half fill
a 13" x 9" x 2" pan. Put the pan in the oven and slowly turn the
dial until the oven just comes on. Turn on the oven light too.

2.      Take out 2 beer mugs, a coffee cup, a 1 cup measuring cup, large
bowl, a tablespoon, a teaspoon, measuring spoons and a whisk. Take
the yeast and oil from the fridge. Also take out the honey, 7 grain
cereal, rolled oats, wheat flakes and rye flakes.

3.      Fill one beer mug with hot tap water and let sit for just a moment.
Empty the hot water and refill 1/3 full with tap water that is warm,
but not hot, to the wrist, (like baby's milk), and stir in a
teaspoon of honey and 1/4 teaspoon of ginger.

4.      When the honey has mostly dissolved, stir in a level tablespoon of
yeast and stir immediately. Cover with a damp tea towel and let rise
until at least double in bulk. This should take about ten minutes.

5.      In the meantime, fill the second beer mug three quarters full of
non-instant powdered milk. Put a large tablespoon of honey in the
bowl. This "tablespoon" probably contains 1/4 to 1/2 cups honey. Add
2 1/2 coffee cups of warm-to-the-wrist water. Add the non-instant
powdered milk and beat well with a whisk. As you beat, the phrase
"non-instant" in non-instant powdered milk will take on real meaning.
If there are a few lumps remaining, don't worry, they won't survive
the next steps.

6.      Add a handful of rolled oats, a handful of wheat flakes, a handful
of rye flakes, and a handful of seven grain cereal. Beat lightly
with a whisk to moisten.

7.      By now the yeast should have risen to with an inch of the top of
the beer mug. Using the teaspoon, give it a good stir for about 5
seconds and pour it into the bowl with all the other stuff.

8.      Take the flour from the oven and turn the oven off! <-- IMPORTANT!
Leave the oven light on as it will be the only heat source required
for the risings. Add flour to the bowl one handful at a time and beat
vigorously with the whisk. You are done when its kinda hard to add
more flour and the resulting mixture can best be described as thick
mud. Adding the flour with the whisk only takes about 3 minutes.

9.      Using a rubber scraper, clean the sides of the bowl, cover with a
damp tea towel and put in the oven to rise. This rising will take
about 30 minutes. At this stage, the bread with half the flour added
is called the "sponge."

10.     Pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup oil into the coffee cup and put it into the oven
to warm. Also, half fill the 13" x 9" x 2" pan with flour again and
put it in the oven to warm. Put the measuring spoons over to where
you will be working next and get out the salt now so you don't
forget.

11.     Wash everything else and put it away. By now you should have about
25 minutes to do other things like have a beer, do FreeNet, or both.

12.     When the sponge has risen to within 3/4 of an inch of the top of the
bowl, or until double in bulk, remove from the oven.

13.     Sprinkle 3/4 of a tablespoon of salt on top if you wish. If you would
rather not add salt, omit this step. Your bread will be just a little
sweeter, that's all.

14.     Slowly pour most of the oil around the edge of the bowl. Save an
ounce or so of oil in the cup. Using the rubber scraper, fold the
sponge down so that it is almost its original size before rising.
This process should take no longer than 2 minutes.

FOLDING? It goes like this. Grab the bowl with your left hand at the
ten o'clock position and insert the scraper with your right hand at
the twelve o'clock position. While turning the bowl counter clockwise
with your left hand, bring the scraper clockwise around the edge of
the bowl with your right hand. When you left hand and right meet at
the 6 o'clock position, that's 6:30 in Newfoundland, flip the dough
across the bowl back to the twelve o'clock position. Try to keep the
sponge together as a whole.

15.     Sprinkle a handful of flour on top of the bread and fold it in.
Sprinkle additional flour around the edge of the bowl and fold it in
too. When the folding gets tough, stop.

16.     Sprinkle a handful of flour on the counter. Pour the dough onto the
counter. Using the rubber scraper, clean the bowl the best you can,
Pour the remains on top of the dough. Nothing gets wasted here. Using
the bit of oil remaining in the cup, oil your hands and the bowl.

17.     Knead the bread until three consecutive kneads don't stick to the
bare counter.

KNEADING? It goes like this. Grab the far side of the dough and bring
it towards you, thus folding the dough in half. Using the heels of
your hands, push the dough away from you. Using your left hand, give
the dough a quarter turn, grab the far side, bring it towards you,
thus folding the dough in half, and push the dough away from you.
Using your left hand, give the dough a quarter turn, ... , et cetera.

18.     Put the dough, good side down, in the bowl, remove, and put it back
in the bowl good side up. If there is any noticeable accumulation of
oil in the centre, rub it to the outside with your hand. Cover the
dough with a damp tea towel, return to the oven and let rise about 30
minutes or until double in bulk.

19.     This step is called "punching down." Take a moment, close your eyes
and picture someone who you would like to punch, if even, playfully.
Punch the dough down by first nailing it right in the centre and
pushing all the way to the bottom of the bowl. Punch down the rest
working from the centre to the outside of the bowl. Finish off by
punching the centre again. This punching down process should take no
more than 25 - 30 punches. I like this part!

20.     Again, cover the dough with a damp tea towel, return to the oven and
let rise about 25 minutes or until double in bulk.

21.     Punch down as before, this time when you are done roll the dough out
onto the counter.

NOTE: If you are a bit pressed for time, one of these intermediate
risings can be omitted with negligible effect on the final product.
If, however, you are a perfectionist like me, you'll do all risings,
time permitting.

22.     Using a sharp knife and a good eye, cut the dough in two. Using four
or five folds each, form the two pieces of dough into loaves, cover
with a damp tea towel and let rise for a few minutes while you
perform the next step. Please note: in this step don't be too
concerned about the shape of the loaves, the actual final shaping
comes in Step 24.

23.     Grease two loaf pans with butter.

24.     Using four or five folds each, form each loaf and place good side up
in the loaf pan. Cover the loaves with a damp tea towel, return to
the oven and let rise 15 to 20 minutes. If your risings so far have
corresponded to the times mentioned above, use 15 minutes in this
step. If they have been five or so minutes longer, use 20 minutes.

25.     Remove the covered loaves from the oven and turn the oven on to 350
degrees Fahrenheit. It will take about 5 minutes to warm up.

26.     Uncover the loaves and put into the oven. Bake for 50 minutes or
until the loaf rapped on the bottom gives a nice hollow sound.

27.     Remove the loaves from the pan by giving each pan a gentle twist. Put
the loaves to cool for about eight hours. An oven rack makes a good
cooling rack for bread.

28.     Clean the loaf pans immediately with a paper towel. If you use soap
and water on loaf pans, it should only be on the outside for
appearance sake.

29.     You may have heard that you should not eat bread straight out of the
oven because it will sit heavy on your stomach and be bad for you.
Bullfeathers! How can anything this good possibly be bad for you?

30.     Enjoy!  C=:-)