I've been having a great time making homemade bread.

I started using a bread machine years ago, but my first shot was - oh, SO bad. Then I figured out a bit more about the science of baking by watching Alton Brown's show on bread making. That helped me figure out that my yeast needed to be dissolved FIRST and that my water needed to be lukewarm. If you can fill it on your wrist, it's not right! That method works for me - I just put a drop on my wrist - if it is notably hot or cold, it's not right. When I can't feel it, that's it!

Ok, so finally I threw out the bread machine and started kneading my dough by hand. This worked a bit better. Once I figured out what dough was SUPPOSED to look like, I started using my Kitchen Aid mixer's dough attachment.

My latest tinkering has been with the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, and it has been a complete success. I highly recommend it. The folks over at Red Star Yeast have a great intro into this method.
Check out Bread in 5 Minutes!
It really IS that easy. :)