My house smells like an Italian Bakery

For reals. I'm sitting in my living room and revelling in the smell. Let me tell you why.

I bake darn good bread.

There you have it. That is why my house smells amazing and why my husband gets to brag at work that his wife makes him the best sandwiches in the world. I bake amazingly delicious bread.

AND YOU CAN TOO!

Here's how:

Shelley's Artisan Bread 

(confused? "but," you say, "YOUR name isn't Shelley??" aha, my little friend. Shelley is my sister's mother-in-law, and she taught me how to make amazing bread---thankfully not on a mountain in Tibet, though, I don't like snow)

6 1/2 c. all purpose flour (I've never tried it with whole wheat, but I imagine it wouldn't be quite the same...)
1 1/2 tbs. quick rise yeast
1 1/2 tbs. salt
3 c. luke warm water (100 F)
Cubed cheese (technically optional, but SO good I never leave it out)
Herbs of your choosing (I don't think I've done the same herb combination twice yet, it is so much fun to experiment!)
If you have it, sun dried tomatoes are also REALLY good in it, same with parmesan cheese

Measure flour, yeast and salt into large mixing bowl. Add whatever extra ingredients tickle your fancy and stir together with wooden spoon. Pour in the warm water and stir until moistened. Beat 40ish strokes (you wanna get the gluten excited, but not pop too many bubbles), scraping the bottom of the bowl until the dough forms a lumpy sticky mass.
Cover and let rise in a warm place for 2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size and has a sponge-like appearance (usually takes at least 1 1/2 hours).
Place dough on a floured surface and dust lightly with flour (you want to keep the dough as wet and sticky as possible without it sticking to you and everything else). Working the dough as little as possible (DON'T KNEAD IT!), form the dough into two loaf-ish shapes (it will rise like crazy, so don't try anything fancy. it will come out beautiful in its own right). Place on a parchment paper covered large cookie sheet (make sure they have LOTS of room to rise). If you want you can sprinkle the top with olive oil and/or cheese and herbs. Then let rise for 40 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 450F when your timer hits 10 minutes left and place a small metal bowl filled with water on the bottom rack. Once your timer dings, stick the bread in,  set another timer for 27 minutes and inhale deeply as your house starts to smell delicious!! Once the bread is done, move immediately onto wire racks and wait at least 10 minutes (I know, it's hard) before you cut it open.

It has the most delicious moist insides with a nice slightly tough outside! SO good with a slathering of butter. Also makes amazing sandwiches, garlic bread---just about anything you can do with bread, this stuff makes it better!