Kalamata Bread

I've been saying for weeks now that I was going to make some Kalamata bread ... Dan asked, "So when are you going to do it?" Well, I finally did it.
The reccipe I used made a lovely 2 lb. loaf in my Sunbeam bread machine that we got a couple of years ago from WalMart. Tastes really wonderful ... Dan & his mom agree!
I bought the pitted kalamata olives at World Market. Some recipes call for chopped rosemary or garlic in the bread ... maybe next time ... Here's the recipe I used:

Ingredients:

• 1/3 to 1/2 cup brine from olives
• Warm water, enough to make 1 1/2 cups when combined with brine
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 2/3 cups whole wheat flour ( heaping cup of wheat kernals freshly ground to flour in my Vita-Mix)
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (I only used a slight teaspoon)
  
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried leaf basil (fresh chopped would be yummy too)
  
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup finely chopped kalamata olives (about 2 dozen pitted olives)

Preparation:

Put brine in a 2-cup measure; add warm water to make 1 1/2 cups. Put all ingredients except for the olives in the bread machine according to your manufacturer's preferred order (mine is liquids first). Choose wheat setting; add olives at the beep.

After it is done ... a dip is made by putting a generous amount of olive oil in a fry pan, add chopped sun-dried tomatoes, chopped onion, chopped garlic ... and a little Italian Seasoning with salt & pepper to taste ... cooked until the onions are clarified ... pour into a bowl ... and dip chunks of fresh bread in it!!