White Bread

I made white bread from scratch the other day while waiting for my family to come home. It turned out quite nicely.

4 1/2 tsp yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 cups warm water
3 tbsp lard (or oil or butter, I used oil)
1 tsp salt
6 1/2 cups bread flour

In a large bowl dissolve sugar and yeast into warm water. Stir in lard, salt and some of the flour. Mix well. Slowly stir in the rest of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and kneed for 8 minutes or so, until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, put the dough in the bowl and turn to coat in oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Grease two bread pans. Punch down dough and divide in half. Place each half in a pan. Let rise for another 40 minutes until doubled again. While this is rising preheat oven to 425 degrees. When the dough is ready turn the oven down to 375 then bake the loaves for 30 minutes until the top is golden brown.