Two-day white bread

from Uncle John's Original Bread Book

night before:
1 packet yeast
2 c lukewarm watter
3 c white bread flour

Mix together all ingredients. Stir well but don't need to knead. Cover with a cloth and set in a warm place overnight.

day of:
2 c milk, scalded
2 T butter
0.25 c sugar
4 t salt
yeseterday's sponge
4-8 c white bread flour

Stir together butter, sugar, and salt into the hot milk, cool to lukewarm. Add liquid to the sponge (the stuff from last night) and stir to mix. Add flour gradually until you have a dough you're happy with (recipe calls for 4 more cups of flour, I added at least 8 and it was still on the sticky side). Knead lots. Put in greased bowl covered with cloth in warm place, rise until doubled. (This rise was a bit slow for me, probably because the house was cold.) Punch down and scoop out onto a floured surface. Cut into the number of pieces you want. With each piece, pick it up by one end and slap it against the surface a few times, then gently form into a ball and let rest for 10 min. Elongate to the length of your loaf pan, roll the sides under a bit, and place in the greased loaf pan. Cover and let rise (this rise took about an hour). Bake at 400-425 for 45 min, rotating the pans if your oven is as cramped as mine. Brush the tops with butter. Serve to your friends, or toast and eat for breakfast with cinnamon sugar and rooibos tea.