The concept of birth, whether imaginary or real, mechanical or organic, tends to manifest itself as a direct extension of human creative endeavor. Consider E.R. Eddison's description of the workings of a fabulous beast, the hippogriff, for example.

    "And thus cometh this steed to the birth: when one of might and heart beyond the wont of man sleepeth in this land with the egg in his bosom greatly desiring some high achievement, the fire of his great longing hatcheth the egg, and the hippogriff cometh out therefrom, weak winged at first as thou hast seen a butterfly new hatched out his chrysalis."

    I can't imagine that anyone doesn't find bread machines somewhat peculiar, from the clanging noises and odd shaped loaves, to the bread paddles that ends up cooked into the loaf half the time. We know that they perform their function both weirdly and well, and that what goes on inside their metallic wombs rivals butterfly chrysalises and hippogriff eggs for mystery and wonder.

    In any case, what every possessor of a bread machine wants is a really good recipe book, one produced by a master baker who has turned her expertise towards the machine in question, bearding it in its lair through a combination of trial and error and a wealth of expertise. Beth Hensperger's The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook is that book.

    Hensperger, a professionally trained baker and author of the award winning Bread Bible, as well as many other outstanding bread books, cites technical improvements made in recent years as a reason for "seekers after gastronomic truth" to set aside their skepticism and open their minds up to the potentiality of the bread machine.

    In her entertaining and informative introduction, Hensperger notes that once she had "set aside my disgruntled attitude about making bread my way, I couldn't leave the machine alone. This appliance begged me to use it. When each loaf turned out better than the last, I was glad to have hundreds of recipes to test."

    The book is positively a tour de force. It answers every conceivable question ranging from the many variations from machine to machine, to yeast selections, to traditional baking options. The recipes, superbly organized by subject, cover every kind of bread imaginable. The author's exhaustive testing and profound expertise are everywhere evident in the more than 300 simple and excellent recipes.