I love the smell of freshly baked bread and these recipes are dead easy. I've used the manual method in case you don't have a breadmaker, but they can be adapted if you do have one.

Potato Bread
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225g potatoes, cooked in their skins, then grated
1 sachet easy-blend dried yeast
340g plain white bread flour
110g pumpkin seeds
1½ tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Put the grated potato, yeast, flour, pumpkin seeds, salt and olive oil in a bowl. Slowly add up to 280ml warm water (or the water from cooking the potato) and blend together to form a dough (you might not need all the liquid). Knead the dough for a few minutes until it is smooth but still soft.

Put the dough in a bowl in a warm place covered with a damp cloth and let rise for about two hours. Then 'knock it back' by kneading again.

Fill a greased 900g (2lb) baking tin or two 450g (1lb) tins about halfway or a bit higher with the dough. Again let it rise in a warm place, covered with a damp cloth, until the dough is at or nearly at the top of the tin or tins.

Bake in the oven at 230C/450F/Gas 8 for about 35 minutes, then bang the loaves out of the tins and allow them to cool on wire racks. When the loaves are cool, cut into slices about 2cm (¾in) thick, toast and serve.

Foccacia
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1.5kg strong white bread flour
1 x 7g sachet dried yeast
50ml olive oil, plus a little extra for oiling
pinch salt
570ml warm water
For the topping
sprigs rosemary
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp coarse sea salt

Combine the flour, yeast, olive oil and salt. Add the water to make a soft dough, and knead until smooth and shiny.

Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for about an hour until well risen.

Tip the mix out onto a floured surface and knead to knock out any air pockets. Roll the dough into an oval-like shape about 2cm. Transfer to an oiled baking tray.

Firmly press your fingers into the surface to 'pit' the surface. For the topping, drizzle with olive oil and lightly grind sea salt over the top.

Put a small sprig of rosemary into each pit.

Cover with a tea towel and set the loaf aside for another 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

Transfer the loaf to the middle shelf of the oven and cook for about 15 minutes until golden brown.