Leslie's Homemade Oatmeal Wheat Bread

All the great bread making women I know have "their bread recipe"- not one from a cookbook. finding your recipe is a sort of motherhood rite of passage. I started with one recipe. It evolved to the point that it no longer resembles the original recipe and I call it my own. As much as I hate the crumbs on the counter, few things make me feel more like a great mother than to hear my children cheer when I tell them I am making "my" bread.

Leslie's Homemade Bread
3 c. hot water
1Tbsp. salt
1/4 c. oil
1 c. br sugar
8-9 cups flour (4 c. wheat (red and white wheat combo), 2 better for bread, 2 c. oats)
2 Tbsp. yeast
1 tbsp. vital wheat gluten
1 egg

Stir the water, salt, oil and brown sugar together. Add 4 cups wheat flour, yeast and egg. Beat 4-5 minutes . Add 2 cups "oat flour" (take oats (old fashioned or quick) pulverize in blender to make oat flour). Mix well- add remaining bfb flour and gluten. Knead 10 minutes. Place in grease bowl and cover with towel - let rise in warm spot until dbl. pounch down divide into three loaves, roll out and form loaves. Let rise again until dbl in pans. Bake 35 mins at 325.

College Boyfriend Breadsticks

See I had this boyfriend, KC, who I dated for most of my college years. (he was a good cook, but he can't take credit for this recipe but "college boyfriend's friend's wife's breadsticks" is too long of a title- and "college boyfriend breadsticks". Once we (me and KC) went to dinner at the home of one of his friend's, D & N. Well, in the course of the evening his wife and I made these breadsticks and they were so good. The one part that stuck in my head was that one of the ingredients was malted milk powder. I meant to get the recipe but then D&N moved and I broke up with KC and my hopes of getting the recipe were dashed. So for the 11 years since that night, I have thought about these breadsticks. I was thinking about them again as I was driving home from church a few months ago and decided I WOULD find the recipes. So when I walked in the door, I went immediately to the computer and scoured the internet for breadstick recipes with malted milk powder. Well I experimented a little, and made some modifications and here they are... They are fast, easy, and excessively yummy- think breadstick nirvana.

College Boyfriend Breadsticks
Dissolve:
1 Tbsp. yeast
2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 c. warm water
Then Add:
1 Tbsp. malted milk powder
1 tsp. salt
3- 3 1/2 cups flour.

Mix together well. Melt 1/4 c. butter. Pour half of the butter in 9x13" pan. press dough in pan. Pour remaining butter on top. Sprinkle generously with mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle lightly with garlic salt. Let rise for 15-30 min. Then bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes.