Retro Baking

Got out my Pampered Chef tube pans last night to make some French Bread for a bridal shower today.  I had planned to just pick up a baguette at the store and slice it thinly to serve with the hot bacon dip but I did not make it to the store.  So thought I would make my own.  Then when forming the dough into loaves, I thought of the tube pans from Pampered Chef (do not see them in their online catalog but did see some other sources when I googled for Pampered Chef tube pans - E-Bay and some kitchen supply sites).

 I hadn't use these in years - probably not for the last 10-15 years at least.   They worked beautifully.
I used a French Bread recipe from my bread machine cookbook with the dough setting then put it into the pans and let it rise for about 20 minutes.  It had already filled the pans so removed some to leave about 2 inches of space to allow it to raise some more - worked beautifully.   It was a nice crusty bread.

Great served with this Hot Bacon Dip.  Mixed this up this morning and while it baked I got ready to go to the shower.  Literally took it out of the oven, wrapped and snuggled it into insulated carrier for my Pyrex casserole and took it to the shower.  Still plenty warm when we ate.  I got several favorable comments on it too.

Thought it was kind of cute with my heart shaped quiche plate and the heart and flower shaped bread slices.  And there was enough left over that we can have some with our Super Bowl snacks tomorrow.