I always enjoy receiving messages from home bakers through our e-mail contact form. Since baking bread is a learned skill, I like helping you master the skills. The answers to many of the questions you pose are of interest to others. So, I am going to choose a few of your letters each month to post on this site along with my responses. My intentions are that by doing this, more people will benefit. Incidentally, if your inquiry happens to be the one posted I will also answer you directly and then request your name and address. I will send you coupons for free yeast. Here are a couple of recent questions: Dear Carol; I learned to bake bread from my grandmother and have been baking for many years. Lately my loaves are small, heavy and compact. I’ve used the activity test from your Web site and tested the yeast. It seems to be active so I don’t think the yeast is the problem. But I don’t know what’s wrong. Do you have any idea what could be causing my loaves to be like this? Dear Carol; I never know for sure how long to knead the dough. Is it possible to knead dough too much? Dear Carol; I accidentally picked up a bag of self-rising flour instead of all-purpose flour. Can I use it for yeast breads? I am unsuccessful with pizza crust. On a TV food I heard you must use high gluten flour. Your recipe calls for regular. What flour do your really think is best? Also, your recipe does not state you let the dough rise or rest for 20 minutes. Would you explain why you are not letting the dough rest longer? I want a thin crust and would like to learn how to throw it in the air. I have been unsuccessful at this trick.