That feeling of a live dough is wonderful, and it's a shame so many people are nervous about bread-baking (or they were). I learned to bake sweet things from my mother, but nothing with yeast until a friend in high school showed me how easy it was. I don't make a lot of bread by hand these days, but I use my bread machine a lot, and rarely buy it anymore. It's nice to know exactly what you're eating.

Protip: Buy gluten, yeast, and buttermilk powder in bulk and keep them in the freezer. They'll keep a long time. Oh, and you might want to get some nonfat dry milk, that often shows up in bread recipes.

You inspire me: I have a couple of bananas in the freezer I can use for a yeasted banana bread in my machine overnight. Fresh banana-walnut bread for breakfast, yay!

My favorite bread book is Bernard Clayton's Big Book of Breads. Tons of recipes from all over, clear directions, almost always successful.