Beard's Basic White

Though it only contains four ingredients, this recipe from the classic Beard on Bread goes on for eleven pages. But despite it's almost obsessive attention to detail, BOB is as welcoming and full of knowledge as your favorite uncle.

Beard's directions include such friendly words of encouragement as these:

"If your loaf has cracked on one side during the baking, don't worry. It is likely to be a perfectly good loaf -- in fact, it may be utterly delicious -- even if it doesn't look beautiful."

These instructions for making bread are every bit as warm and comforting, as, well... bread. The text is accompanied by equally soothing 70's era pen and ink illustrations that look like they were lazily doodled by Hobbits.

The bread was great. And if it wasn't, I could have consulted the final three pages of the recipe, which include twelve "Remedies for the Not-Quite-Perfect Slice."