If the tin is airtight, crispy Melba toast can be kept for a few weeks before it will taste stale. If it goes soft, it can be crisp again by heating it briefly in a hot oven. You can make Melba toast using ordinary sliced white bread. Toast the slices, cut off the crusts, and use a very sharp thin knife to cut each slice open and separate it into two thinner slices. Toast the inner slices under a grill, and leave the bread to cool. Store in an airtight tin.

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A food processor will mix the bread ingredients together and will also form them into a ball so that considerably less kneading will be required. Bread that is made with wholemeal flour is much less work to produce because it has a low gluten content. It needs only a little kneading and then just one rising in the tin before being baked. A computer-controlled electric bread-making machine is the ultimate labor-saving choice.

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Fresh yeast will keep for up to two weeks in a plastic storage box in the refrigerator. The box should have a tight lid in which you have made a few small air holes. There should be enough holes to prevent any condensation, but not so many as to overexpose the yeast to air.

The yeast should be a creamy beige, smooth and in one piece. Yeast that is dry, crumbled and grey is stale and will not work. Dried and instant rapid-rise yeast should be stored in a cool and dry place. They will keep almost indefinitely, but try to observe the 'use-by' date on the packet. If you use it after the expiry date, check that the yeast foams after it has dissolved. If it does not, the bread will not rise properly.

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