1 3/4 C warm water
1 T salt
2 T shortening
3 T sugar
6 C flour
2 T yeast mixed with 1/2 C warm water, set aside to proof yeast while you mix the rest of the ingredients.
Mix first 4 ingredients and 3 C flour until well combined, add remaining flour 1 cup at a time (I usually add the yeast/water mixture with the 5th cup of flour). Knead 1-2 min to activate gluten. Cover, let rise in greased bowl, turning to coat until doubled in size (about 1 hour), punch dough down, let rise again (about 45 min), punch down. Turn dough out onto floured surface, divide in half. Shape 2 loaves, place in greased bread pans, cover, let rise until doubled in size (about 30 min). Bake at 350*F 30 min. Turn bread out of pans right away for easiest removal. Let cool on cooling rack, or serve right away for yummy, hot, fresh bread! :) Enjoy!
Note: I mix my bread in a kitchenaid mixer with the knead hook, and double the recipe (though it won't all fit at once, so I mix up 2 batches and put them together in a huge bowl to rise together) so I only have to make bread once a week. Once it's cool (several hours after it comes out of the oven) I slice all of it into 1/2" thick slices (18 slices per loaf), put it in bread bags I save from when I occasionally buy bread from the store, and put 3 in the freezer and 1 in the pantry. This bread can get moldy within 3-5 days if not used quickly since there are no preservatives. But, it never lasts that long around here! But that's why I always put the other 3 loaves in the freezer.
It does take a long time to have it completed, but only about 30 minutes of this time am I actually actively working on the bread. So I can clean, read, study, surf the web, workout, whatever while it's rising. I just set a timer, run into the kitchen wash my hands, punch the bread down, recover it and set a new timer, and go back to what I was doing. Though, I will say, I've got it down to a science. I can grab all my ingredients, measuring tools, and mix the bread without a recipe, and it only takes about 15-20 min to mix up 2 batches now. It didn't always go that fast! I've made it 100s of times by now!
If you try it let me know! I'd love to hear how it works for you. I remember the first time I baked bread. It was a mess! The bread was delish! But I remember feeling like it wasn't worth it. And now my kids cheer when I bake and look a bit sad when we only have store bought bread. LOL!