One of the great things about writing a column for this paper is that I am able to write about things that strike my fancy, or that I think might strike yours. One thing that strikes our olfactory fancy is freshly mowed grass, another is a spring rain, but the favorite for most of us is primal — that of freshly baked bread.

Home baked bread, fresh from the oven has an aroma like nothing else. In times past when most families baked their own bread, the nutritional value of this loaf gave rise to the adage “the staff of life.” In fact, a fresh baked loaf of bread is loaded with fiber, is very low in fat and contributes to a healthy diet. A loaf is certainly greater than the sum of its basic ingredients: Flour, water, yeast and salt. There is no other product we eat on a day to day basis that has such humble beginnings, is so nutritious and yet is so widely enjoyed.

In this age of rushing here and there, most people do not have the time to mix, knead, let rise and bake their own bread and yet, they certainly want the benefits of bread that has no preservatives, no synthetic dough conditioners, no emulsifiers or not even any sugar or fat that commercial bakers must add to make breads stay soft and last longer. To people that are still in doubt about baking their own, I have a friend that swears to me that he has more energy after eating my flax seed bread weekly, for several months.

The answer to the conundrum of eating home made bread but not having the time to make it - a bread machine. Bread machines come equipped with a timer so that you can measure the ingredients into the bread pan before you go to bed and the freshly baked bread will be hot and ready for you when you rise. The same is true when you go to work, load the ingredients in the morning, set the timer, and come home to a house filled with the aroma or freshly baked bread ready for dinner. My only caveat here is do not use a recipe with raw eggs during a long day time baking cycle in hot weather.

Home baked breads may be tailor made to your own dietary needs. There are many recipes available for no sugar breads. There are also recipes that you can use for salt free breads for people that do not like the taste of salt substitutes, but must control their salt intake. Although salt is used in very small amounts (1 tsp. or less) in a loaf of bread, its effect on the loaf is enormous. Salt’s main function in baking is to inhibit the yeast, so that there is a controlled rise without large air bubbles and the resulting collapse and deflation. It is also useful as a flavor enhancer and will keep the bead fresh a little longer. When making bread without salt, you must reduce the yeast amount, or the bread will rise out of control.

When you decide to use a bread machine, a whole new world of baking opens to you. I have made cakes in a machine. I also use it to knead dough for pies and dinner rolls. The addition of herbs, fruit butters, spices and various whole grains ground or not, will give you a different taste every day.

The machines are not expensive and the enjoyment and variety you will get, quickly pays for itself, because bread baking is such a large category, I will cover more in future columns.

Pat Biggerstaff is the gardening columnist for the Daily News. She lives in Middlesboro. To comment or suggest topics for future columns, e-mail editor@middlesborodailynews.com.