I am happy to report that the inherited iris bulbs are sprouted and still green, despite the roller-coaster temperatures of the last few weeks.
I am worried that a few of the bulbs in the front planter didn't make it, but a few have green shoots shoving through the soil, and the pots are looking more promising. The onions and inherited mystery bulbs in the front are growing with wild abandon.
The weather outside today has been gorgeous. In fact, it has been nice for several days now. I was able to gallivant with our dog outside barefoot over the weekend. It was so nice to run around barefoot, squishing the grass between my toes. And so nice to see my feet! I've stuck them in socks, fuzzy socks, and layered socks for so long to keep them warm that it was refreshing to leave my feet free.
This past week was Spring Break for the local university (where I work) and the public K-12 schools. Traffic was a breeze, and our hallways were quiet. Also very refreshing.
Our local grocery store had a sale on butter (2 for the price of 1). We went Wednesday night, and they were sold out - not un-expected. Thankfully, they were expecting a truck that night. As I had off for St. Patrick's Day, I went that next morning to pick up the butter before they could sell out, and also got a 10 lb bag of flour.
Yes, a 10 lb bag of flour. I may have mentioned that I really enjoy baking. However, I don't bake as much as I would like. Otherwise, we'd have cookies and bread spilling out of our house, into the streets. The weekend before Spring Break, I made cookies and bagels and pancakes. The cookies were so tasty and quick that I made several more batches throughout the week (also not great for our overall health). The flour cache was rapidly dwindling to nothingness. The Wednesday we couldn't buy butter, I scoped out the flour prices. A 10 lb bag was about $4.50, while a 5 lb bag was $3-4 (this is bleached, enriched, all-purpose flour, not my favorite, but the most affordable and versatile). Considering my baking kick and the price, how could I not get the 10 lb bag?!
Well, this past weekend I made soda bread (wheat and white flour), cookies (of course), and a very crumbly shortbread. I've gone through more flour, butter, and eggs than I care to admit. But there is nothing like the satisfied feeling of having something in the oven.
Do you have a favorite thing to bake or cook?
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Monday, March 21, 2011
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
A Belated Thanksgiving Post
This was not the first year we made a turkey around Thanksgiving, but it was the first year that we held the main event at our residence. When we were first married, I was in grad school and we lived too far from family to drive home on short breaks. These were the years when we happily accepted invitations to join friends and their families and/or friends for a holiday celebration. A lot of these get-togethers were pot-luck style, and we contributed a dish or two to the meal. One or two dishes that can be serves warm or cold is nothing compared to providing the main event yourself.
Forces combined against us timing things perfectly. I should have expected that, though, since I can't time a regular meal to be ready all at once (unless it is a one-pot-dinner). Despite loving to sleep in, the necessity of rising early on a regular basis caused both my husband and me to get up rather early, considering it was not a work day. Add in a delayed guest (weather increased travel time by about an hour), and my anxiousness to start cooking, for fear of not finishing in time. All that equals mashed potatoes chilling on the stove an hour early, corn pudding resting for an hour or so, and the turkey being allowed to rest for about an hour, instead of 15 minutes, before being carved.
Granted, I did intentionally start the turkey early to ensure it would have enough time to reach the proper temperature. You may be wondering how we were able to cook a turkey, sans oven. The countertop oven, which probably would not have fit the size bird we had, was used for things like rolls and corn pudding. But we did have another trick up our appliance sleeve: countertop roaster. (This looks similar to the one we have.)
Years ago, when we were contributing one or two dishes to someone else's celebration, our host had a countertop roaster that they used frequently. For holiday meals, it was especially handy for them because it kept the oven free for all the myriad of side dishes that they had. It also works very nicely for those who are ovenless.
When I did a search for these countertop ovens so I could show you a picture, I noticed that most returns were quite fancy, and pricey. We got ours about 3 years ago, as part of a deal at the grocery store during the holidays. It was either buy the turkey, get the roaster, or vice versa. Either way, it was a decent deal, even if I have thus far only pulled it out a few times a year.
When using a roaster like this, one should keep in mind that things will not brown like they do in a traditional oven, and cooking times are often reduced. The instructions that came with mine say a 14-16 lb bird will be done in 2-2.5 hours. Ours took closer to 3-3.5 hours, but that was because some of the organs were hiding from me, and stayed in the bird throughout the cooking process. Oops.
Aside from checking the internal temperature of the bird, this was a relatively hands off way to cook the turkey. There was no need to baste, since any steam kept inside the roaster. Overall, despite human error, I am quite happy with the roaster, and the moist turkey it produced.
Certainly helped our first time hosting Thanksgiving be a good one!
(It was wonderful to be able to use my grandparents' dining suite to entertain!)
Forces combined against us timing things perfectly. I should have expected that, though, since I can't time a regular meal to be ready all at once (unless it is a one-pot-dinner). Despite loving to sleep in, the necessity of rising early on a regular basis caused both my husband and me to get up rather early, considering it was not a work day. Add in a delayed guest (weather increased travel time by about an hour), and my anxiousness to start cooking, for fear of not finishing in time. All that equals mashed potatoes chilling on the stove an hour early, corn pudding resting for an hour or so, and the turkey being allowed to rest for about an hour, instead of 15 minutes, before being carved.
Granted, I did intentionally start the turkey early to ensure it would have enough time to reach the proper temperature. You may be wondering how we were able to cook a turkey, sans oven. The countertop oven, which probably would not have fit the size bird we had, was used for things like rolls and corn pudding. But we did have another trick up our appliance sleeve: countertop roaster. (This looks similar to the one we have.)
Years ago, when we were contributing one or two dishes to someone else's celebration, our host had a countertop roaster that they used frequently. For holiday meals, it was especially handy for them because it kept the oven free for all the myriad of side dishes that they had. It also works very nicely for those who are ovenless.
When I did a search for these countertop ovens so I could show you a picture, I noticed that most returns were quite fancy, and pricey. We got ours about 3 years ago, as part of a deal at the grocery store during the holidays. It was either buy the turkey, get the roaster, or vice versa. Either way, it was a decent deal, even if I have thus far only pulled it out a few times a year.
When using a roaster like this, one should keep in mind that things will not brown like they do in a traditional oven, and cooking times are often reduced. The instructions that came with mine say a 14-16 lb bird will be done in 2-2.5 hours. Ours took closer to 3-3.5 hours, but that was because some of the organs were hiding from me, and stayed in the bird throughout the cooking process. Oops.
Aside from checking the internal temperature of the bird, this was a relatively hands off way to cook the turkey. There was no need to baste, since any steam kept inside the roaster. Overall, despite human error, I am quite happy with the roaster, and the moist turkey it produced.
Certainly helped our first time hosting Thanksgiving be a good one!
(It was wonderful to be able to use my grandparents' dining suite to entertain!)
Friday, June 25, 2010
Woes of the oven-less baker
The oven didn't work when we moved into our house. We knew this, but (wrongly) assumed it would be a simple matter of buying a new oven to replace it. We were wrong. Since this has been a frustrating and at times all-consuming issue, I don't really want to go into it, but I have been with out an oven for nearly a month. This is tragic.
I love baking, and although many people would forgo baking bread come summer, I would love nothing more than to (clear off my counters so I can) knead dough and bake.
Initially, because of the very real constraints of time, money and know-how, I was thinking that we would probably just do without an oven until we had enough of those three things. I figured that there would be somethings we couldn't make, but that mainly, I wouldn't be able to indulge in baking. But, it didn't seem like the end of the world.
This effectively eliminates at least one of our old-stand-by dinners (frozen pizza - not the best, but sometimes, it just hits the spot), as well as things like meatloaf, biscuits, cookies, breads...
I remember reading, years ago, about people cooking and baking entire meals in rice cookers (yes, bread in a rice cooker). I should look into that. We do have a rice cooker. (And it is a trooper of a little thing. It was a wedding present from the best man. One of those things I don't think we registered for, but use regularly.)
There have to be ways to live without an oven. People have done this before. I am not the first person to be sans oven. I just feel so exhausted and frustrated when confronted with the oven conundrum that part of me just gives up for a bit.
Do you have any advice for life without an oven? Have you ever gone for long stretches without certain appliances that you thought/felt were essential? Care to share?
I love baking, and although many people would forgo baking bread come summer, I would love nothing more than to (clear off my counters so I can) knead dough and bake.
Initially, because of the very real constraints of time, money and know-how, I was thinking that we would probably just do without an oven until we had enough of those three things. I figured that there would be somethings we couldn't make, but that mainly, I wouldn't be able to indulge in baking. But, it didn't seem like the end of the world.
This effectively eliminates at least one of our old-stand-by dinners (frozen pizza - not the best, but sometimes, it just hits the spot), as well as things like meatloaf, biscuits, cookies, breads...
I remember reading, years ago, about people cooking and baking entire meals in rice cookers (yes, bread in a rice cooker). I should look into that. We do have a rice cooker. (And it is a trooper of a little thing. It was a wedding present from the best man. One of those things I don't think we registered for, but use regularly.)
There have to be ways to live without an oven. People have done this before. I am not the first person to be sans oven. I just feel so exhausted and frustrated when confronted with the oven conundrum that part of me just gives up for a bit.
Do you have any advice for life without an oven? Have you ever gone for long stretches without certain appliances that you thought/felt were essential? Care to share?
Monday, April 12, 2010
Bread: The rise and fall of a baker
One thing that I actually can do, and do relatively well, is bake bread. My bread baking repertoire is limited, consisting mainly of various white and wheat loaf breads; the kind of bread good for sandwiches, toast, and Nutella (mmmm).
The most challenging thing about baking bread is the waiting. Sure, you have to keep things in proportion, and make sure that nothing gets too hot (or else it will kill the yeast), but most bread recipes now take all of that into consideration, and you can use ready-packaged yeast, so even the rising is more assured.
I was reading a book a few months ago, and this particular section was set in pre-Revolutionary War America (pre- by a year or two), and the wife commented that they were having flat bread for dinner because the bread didn't rise. The words all made sense to me. I know what unrisen bread is. I know proofing/letting bread rise takes time. I know that you can kill the yeast, so the bread won't rise, but was a little baffled at the why and how behind this comment (nevermind the time travel or modern people living in the mid- to late- 1700s, I was hung up on the bread baking). Then, somewhere in the text, another seemingly throwaway line about leaving dough out/vats of beer out to collect wild yeast flipped my mental light switch to the "on" position. I'm so used to my little packets of yeast, or even seeing those jars that I didn't even think about what wall would be involved in making a yeast bread then.
So, I suppose I should remedy my "the hardest thing" statement to reference working with yeast.
Especially since I think I committed my first mass murder of yeast last week. I was working with a wheat recipe, with which I have had past and recent success, where you heat oil (or butter, in my case), water, and honey to warm before adding it to some of the flour, mixed with dry milk, salt, and yeast. I think I let the honeyed water heat up too much. Instead of just letting it be warm enough, I had to try to perfect, and ended up with too warm. Result: dead yeast, dough that never doubled in bulk, and dense loaves.
Now that I think about it, I wonder if I remembered the salt - that could have affected the rising, too.
I also kneaded a lot more than I usually do.
I ended up with these loaves that were about half to three-fourths as high as they should have been, and that didn't quite fill the entire breadth of the pan. Also, after the proofing, I took the smallest loaf, and divided it up and made into rolls. The rolls were an interesting experiment, and provided a very filling breakfast for the next day
I haven't really done sweet breads, quick breads, salt-rising, or sourdough breads. Have you?
The most challenging thing about baking bread is the waiting. Sure, you have to keep things in proportion, and make sure that nothing gets too hot (or else it will kill the yeast), but most bread recipes now take all of that into consideration, and you can use ready-packaged yeast, so even the rising is more assured.
I was reading a book a few months ago, and this particular section was set in pre-Revolutionary War America (pre- by a year or two), and the wife commented that they were having flat bread for dinner because the bread didn't rise. The words all made sense to me. I know what unrisen bread is. I know proofing/letting bread rise takes time. I know that you can kill the yeast, so the bread won't rise, but was a little baffled at the why and how behind this comment (nevermind the time travel or modern people living in the mid- to late- 1700s, I was hung up on the bread baking). Then, somewhere in the text, another seemingly throwaway line about leaving dough out/vats of beer out to collect wild yeast flipped my mental light switch to the "on" position. I'm so used to my little packets of yeast, or even seeing those jars that I didn't even think about what wall would be involved in making a yeast bread then.
So, I suppose I should remedy my "the hardest thing" statement to reference working with yeast.
Especially since I think I committed my first mass murder of yeast last week. I was working with a wheat recipe, with which I have had past and recent success, where you heat oil (or butter, in my case), water, and honey to warm before adding it to some of the flour, mixed with dry milk, salt, and yeast. I think I let the honeyed water heat up too much. Instead of just letting it be warm enough, I had to try to perfect, and ended up with too warm. Result: dead yeast, dough that never doubled in bulk, and dense loaves.
Now that I think about it, I wonder if I remembered the salt - that could have affected the rising, too.
I also kneaded a lot more than I usually do.
I ended up with these loaves that were about half to three-fourths as high as they should have been, and that didn't quite fill the entire breadth of the pan. Also, after the proofing, I took the smallest loaf, and divided it up and made into rolls. The rolls were an interesting experiment, and provided a very filling breakfast for the next day
I haven't really done sweet breads, quick breads, salt-rising, or sourdough breads. Have you?
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Recipe Thursday: Biscuits
It’s Recipe Thursday again! That means that it is almost Friday and the weekend. Today, I’m going to share the biscuit recipe I’ve been using to accompany my soups for the past few weeks.
As you may recall, as much as I love the precision of baking and following recipes, they inevitably end up as a guide for me. So, naturally, I did alter the steps and execution a bit. But only for the rolling out and cutting of biscuits.
Instead of a rolling pin, I used my hands to flatten the dough after kneading. This was for a few reasons: (1) it felt better to do so and (2) I have a French style rolling pin that I got in Novgorod in 2003. My rolling pin is very light-weight, and doesn’t really, well, roll things out very well. It sure is pretty, though!
Instead of a biscuit cutter or glass to cut out biscuits, I used one of my pastry knives/bowl scrapers to cut the dough into strips, then into rectangles. **An aside: what they are calling “bowl scrapers” I grew up calling “pastry knives.” I also used these to cut the butter into the flour mixture.**
Here is where I was confronted with a bit of a conundrum. I had lopsided rectangles and squares, not circles. I figured that I could simply shape them into ‘biscuit-shapes,’ like one does with the inevitable remnant dough. To do so, I ended up folding each dough-quadrangle over onto itself several times, until I ended up with a rough circular, or at least oval-esque, shape. A more realistic yield is 8-10 biscuits.
I also omitted the “brush the tops with milk or butter” step. I almost always do. Partly due to laziness. Partly out of a desire to have fewer dishes to wash up.
I was not exactly expecting miracles or anything when I pulled them out of the oven, 12-15 minutes later. But what I found was pleasantly surprising. Layers! Holy Toledo, Batman, I made layered biscuits that sort of pull apart! (You can also see some homemade freezer jam in the picture, scrumptious!)
As far as flavor, they are basic biscuits. If you tend towards the 6 tablespoons of butter, as opposed to 4, they will be a bit more flavorful. They aren’t exactly flaky, nor are they as tender as the frozen Grands, but pretty darn good for a novice biscuit maker!
Why didn’t I just buy a bag of the frozen Grands? Because at $3.60 for a bag of 12 biscuits at my local Marsh (last time I checked), homemade biscuits are a heck of a lot cheaper. Especially since I did have everything on hand. Are you interested in a price-breakdown for biscuits? I’d be happy to attempt one.
Do you have a stand-by biscuit recipe that you love?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)