Don't be afraid to use your breadmaker

It's amazing how many people tell me they have a breadmaker, but it's in a box and they never use it. My then boyfriend, now husband, gave me a breadmaker for Christmas in 1999, and it's been used weekly ever since. We've even taken it camping (when staying in a powered site) and had it with us when we bought a caravan (trailer home for my US visitors to this site) and started travelling around Australia. He did his homework well, asking people he knew had one which was the best one to get. It's a Panasonic, which I also knew at the time had a really good reputation for being a good breadmaker.
Since then I have used it to make countless loaves of bread, foccaccia, pizza bases, apple challah, bread sticks (grissini), panettone, bagels, bolillos, monkey bread, sourdough and have even tried making cakes in it.
If you have tried using your breadmaker but have found the results haven't been great or inconsistent the best piece of advice I can give you is use kitchen scales to measure the flour. If you are using measuring cups to measure the flour, you will find the results inconsistent as there is often air trapped in the flour which makes one cup of flour different every time.
If you are short for time, use the bread mixes available in supermarkets and breadmaking shops instead of having measure out every single ingredient. It has surprised me how many people don't know about the bread mixes. All you need to do is add yeast and water along with the mix.
My breadmaker has a timer function, which means I can pop the ingredients in the breadmaker for a loaf of bread, press the button, and have it ready in the morning. That gives it time to cool down ready to cut for lunch.
My foccaccia and bread sticks have always been a hit at parties. (I know many of my friends read this blog who have tried them). I have even made breadsticks for a wedding. Both are extremely easy to make. You can use the recipes in the manual that come with your machine or there are many good breadmaking books available or look on line. I have a bread making book but find that I usually have to add more water than what it says in the book. If you look in your breadmaker while it is mixing, check out if the ingredients look too dry and add a little extra water at a time.
So go on, get that breadmaker out of it's box and start using it. It's cheaper than a trip to the bakery every time you want a loaf of bread or something special.