At the club waiting for the rest of our regular gaggle to arrive. At the moment the place is almost deserted.

"Dolly" in the foreground is about 1/4 the size of Avalanche, and yet is starting to give him the push out of bed. I don't think he'll stand for it though.

Bit of an experiment. I've had a bread maker for about 10 years but never used it to make bread from scratch. I had a few attempts with pre-made bread mixes many years ago but never thought much of it so the machine was resigned to dough production for pizza.

Today though I've decided to have another go from scratch ingredients (right down to the bakers flour).

Initial appearances are good with it rising right up into the roof of the machine and touching the window.

The loaf has an excellent crust colour and has risen well clear of the top edge of the pan.

I just hope that it lives up to expectation!

It's out and has an excellent uniform crust colour, the top is a little uneven but overall a great looking first attempt.

Uniform texture and a thick crunchy crust are signs that everythign worked as intended.

We've had Pasta Moose before as well as a variety of other themes but not Teddy Bears. This may need to change!