Sticky Buns

I am thankful to have made it safe and sound through two states to visit my children. So, for my twenty-third installment of ‘Thirty Days of Thankfulness,’ I wish to share their (and mine) perennial favorite: Sticky Buns (follow the link for the recipe and detailed instructions with photos).

Nearly the first thing I did upon arriving at my daughter’s apartment was to inventory her pantry and then head to the largest Kroger grocery store in the state of Texas. As expected, since it was early evening on the day before Thanksgiving, the aisles were jam packed, especially the baking aisle. We survived with most of our limbs intact and only forgetting one item, which we had forgotten to place on our grocery list.

Once back at the apartment, I installed my old bread machine and began mixing up a batch of the sticky buns, using the dough setting on the bread machine. Since it was close to eight o’clock, I knew I would be up way past my bedtime. While my husband and daughter’s boyfriend headed over to a friend’s house who had graciously agreed to smoke a turkey for us, Rach3elle and I streamed a couple of old Star Trek: Voyager episodes from the sixth season, ones I didn’t remember but were quite interesting none-the-less.

We decided to go ahead and bake the first batch of sticky buns last night, using my daughter’s large 9×13 inch glass baking dish. I wasn’t completely satisfied with the way the dough mixed and rose, so I wanted to be able to test taste it in case I needed to re-do a batch early in the morning. Another strange new experience for me: cooking with gas. My daughter’s kitchen apartment includes a Hotpoint gas range. I have only ever cooked using electric ovens. Interesting.

The sticky buns came out of the over around 11:30 but when we flipped them over onto a large cookie sheet, several rolls around the edges stuck to the sides and came unraveled. Prime targets for a taste test. The results were superb but I would need to make another batch in the morning to fine-tune the recipe. While I had purchased what I thought was non-fat dry milk at the grocery store, it was actually labelled ‘instant’ (I really should where my reading glasses while shopping), so I put an eighth to a quarter cup of half-and-half in the liquid portion of the recipe. This morning, I decided to forgo any dairy aspect of the recipe and the dough does look like it is rising better.

I sometimes make this recipe up for friends and family, but I don’t bake it for them. I send them a batch in a disposable aluminum foil pan with instructions on refrigeration, rising and baking so that they can enjoy this treat fresh out of the oven, sticky, gooey and hot, just like it’s meant to be enjoyed.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Not by Bread Alone

Decadent describes my husband’s first pecan pie. See for yourself. You’ll have to take my word on the richness of the flavor though:

Terry didn’t provide me with a link to the recipe. When/if he does, I’ll update this post.

I thought to try a new Italian bread recipe, just for the chance to bake with my Italian bread pan.

I made a mistake, however, in reading the ingredients and used two tablespoons of sugar instead of just two teaspoons. I may have to try again today. My other modifications to the recipe are listed below in bold:

Dough

4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (Kroger’s Organic All-Purpose Flour)
2 tablespoons potato flour, or 1/4 cup dried potato flakes
~~1/4 cup Baker’s Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk~~
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar (my mistake … I used 2 Tablespoons)
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/3 cups lukewarm water (1 cup only; I also used 1/2 cup sourdough starter)
3 tablespoons olive oil

Topping

1 egg white beaten with 1 tablespoon water; or substitute Quick Shine
sesame seeds

Directions

In a large bowl, stir together all of the dough ingredients till cohesive. Knead the dough for 5 to 8 minutes, until it’s smooth and supple, adding more water or flour as needed. I used my Kitchenaid mixer with a dough hook. I let the water, sugar and yeast proof for 5-10 minutes in the bowl while I measured out the other ingredients.
Cover the dough and allow it to rise for 1 hour, or until it’s doubled in bulk. I let it rise for about 90 minutes (mostly because I was preoccupied watching a movie).
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface and divide it into two pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth 16″ log. Place the logs into the two wells of a lightly greased Italian bread pan, cover, and let the loaves rise until very puffy, about 1 hour. I love my Italian bread pan (see photo above).
Brush the loaves with the egg wash (or spray them with Quick Shine), then sprinkle heavily with sesame seeds. Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for about 25 minutes, until the loaves are golden brown. For the crispiest crust, turn off the oven, prop the door open, and allow the bread to cool in the oven. I brushed with an egg-white wash and sprinkled liberally with sesame seeds. I also scored each loaf three times with my razor-sharp lame. Again, I misread the directions and baked at 425 degrees for 25 minutes. I spritzed the oven every five minutes with water from a spray bottle to encourage a crispy crust. I also let the loaves cool in the oven.

We enjoyed some home-made baked Italian sandwiches courtesy Terry’s early life experiences working for his father at the Grinder Man in Wichita, Kansas. Terry’s dad conceived, owned and operated several Grinder Man sandwich shops in Wichita during the 70s and 80s. Sadly, only one remains open now.

Blizzard Baking Bonaza

Telecommuting lets me multitask to the aroma of baking breads all day. I’ve already baked a Vermont Maple Oat scone mix from King Arthur Flour, which is cooling on the rack as I type this blog.

Next up, I’ve started my own version of the Harvest Wheat Bread recipe (also courtesy King Arthur), which I call Harvest Cracked Wheat Bread. I’ve boiled the water and have the cracked wheat and water cooling down in the bread machine bread pan.

Later today, after feeding the sourdough starter, I’ll make a couple of loaves of some sourdough variety, probably of the Italian persuasion.

I’ll update this blog with photos later as the results come out of the oven. I just pray the power remains on long enough for me to finish all this baking.

Mid Afternoon Update: The scones mix turned out well. The Harvest Cracked Wheat bread looks scrumptious:

And I’ve got Rustic Sourdough Kaiser Rolls rising for the next hour or so:

Sadly, my bread machine has reached the end of its useful life. As I was proofing the yeast in the bread pan for the Rustic Sourdough, I noticed a puddle forming on the counter under the bread pan. Once a bread pan starts leaking, it’s time to trade up or trade in or whatever you do with old bread machines. This will be my fifth bread machine.

And, of course, I’d like to move way, way up on the fashion scale, from my Chevy model that I bought at Wal-Mart a couple of years ago, to this Cadillac model offered and highly recommended by King Arthur Flour:

ZojirushiBreadMachine — Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Home Bakery Supreme Bread Machine - Stainless Steel

The Irresistable Aroma of Fresh Baked Bread

Sunday afternoon, while Terry and Sean practiced in the band room downstairs, I baked three loaves of bread. My first loaf, baked for my dad who graciously cleared my driveway yesterday, is the ever popular White Sandwich Bread, pictured here:

Immediately following dad’s loaf, I baked my hubby his favorite, which he refers to as trashy wheat bread, but I call Honey Wheat Bread (pictured below):

The last loaf, and my personal (at least recently) favorite is Rustic Sourdough, modified slightly to mix and rise in the bread machine and produce only one perfect loaf, shown below:

So I filled the house with the smell of fresh baked bread and tortured Sean in the process. Terry even tried to sell my bread to him (at outlandish outrageous prices), but Sean did not succumb to the temptation.

Later in the week, I may try a variety I haven’t baked in years … Cracked Wheat.

Sunset, Sunrise, New Moon, Old Stars

With the return to normal time (sans daylight savings time), the commute home last night included a typical Midwestern autumn sunset. Clear blue orange sky streaked with white vapor trails of the jets filled with people from the coasts who hop over the Heart of America and rarely pause to visit. I kept my eye out for the waxing moon’s sliver, since the new moon occurred around midnight Saturday. After the sun set I finally spied it, much higher in the sky than I anticipated.

Terry had dinner nearly ready when I returned from my errand to WalMart where I invested more money in Hallmark than I do the rest of the year combined. Terry had prepared pan friend pork chops with some glazed carrots that were yummy. I ate my sourdough as an appetizer, although three slices may have been a bit much. We retired to the great room to watch the new episode of House, after which Terry entered his food coma and I read myself to a similar somnolent state.

When I woke up this morning, I realized I had forgotten to contact my father, who was on the road to Virginia. My uncle had remembered to call his brother last night and confirmed he’d finally stopped forging east in Coventry, Virginia, only about three hours shy of their home. I call him this morning during my commute to work and we chatted for a few minutes as he once again headed east into the sunrise over the mountains in Virginia. I used the same sunrise to continue reading until the van arrived at work.

Another aspect of the change in time, I don’t see as many stars when I leave the house in the morning. By 6:15, the eastern sky is already a pale yellow, and I can barely see Sirius or the stars in Orion’s Belt. Some stratus clouds were also interfering with stargazing this morning.

First Friday Fringe

This weekend and next are the final rounds of the 2010 Formula One season. Terry will be watching one of the practices live at home today since Brazil is nearly in our time zone (only two hours ahead of us). Next weekend will wrap up what has been another competitive driver and constructor championship with the last round in Abu Dhabi. I’ll be content to watch them on the reply when I burn the GPs to DVD from the DVR sometime in the next few weeks.

LunchReadingSouthPlazaView — Lunch time view South Plaza early Nov 2010

Since I no longer have any science fiction television to look forward to on Friday nights, I’ll continue reading Blackout by Connie Willis. I’m about half done with it and I have All Clear, the sequel, waiting to pick up as soon as I finish Blackout. Only about twelve hundred pages total between the two and not as heavy as the tome I read in September by Brandon Sanderson: The Way of Kings.

I’ve accumulated over two hundred points over the past couple of years by giving away books via BookMooch, yet because I read fantasy and occasionally science fiction, I’m not finding many books to mooch from others. Yet I still need to divest myself of some more books (hardcovers mostly). So I think I’ll branch out to another swap site, a division of one of my favorite reading and reviewing web sites, the GoodReads swap. That’s my first project for Saturday morning, to prep and post about a half dozen hardcovers via GoodReads swap.

The second task for Saturday morning involves wrestling the Rotts into the car and heading to the vet for some pre-boarding shots. In a couple of weeks, Terry and I will travel south to visit our kids in north Texas for Thanksgiving. Roxy and Apollo will remain behind and make new friends at Deb’s Riverview Kennel. On the way back, weather permitting, we might let them roam free at the Waggin’ Tails Dog Park for a half hour or so.

Once back home, I should probably make a few loaves of bread, for Terry and for my dad. Most likely I’ll make a Rustic Sourdough (dough in the bread machine, but shaped and baked in conventional oven) as well as Honey Wheat and White Sandwich loaves. He’s traveling next week to Virginia for a mini-family reunion at his brother’s home. My aunt from Ohio will also attend. My dad and his brother were born on November 17 and 18 almost exactly four years apart and my aunt was born on November 29 so they’ll be having mutual birthday celebrations. I hope to send a loaf or two with dad for them to enjoy.

In addition to their birthdays, I’ll swing by WalMart and pick up a gift card and birthday card for my daughter-in-law’s birthday, which is the 12th. Terry’s birthday is on the 14th, but at least he’s not leaving town on me. For a birthday present to him, we may go see Mannheim Steamroller in Topeka that weekend.

It’s a new moon tonight so I’ll probably get the telescope out tonight and tomorrow night for some viewing. I might even venture out into the county looking for a nice dark spot away from all the light pollution of Lansing (and the prison that’s only two blocks north of my house with all it’s blazing orange halogen lights) and Kansas City. I should probably dig out some light gloves though since the evening and night temperatures have been dropping down into the 30s most of this week.

Sunday morning I’ll be substituting for the accompanist at Southern Heights UMC during worship, which is also communion Sunday (being the first Sunday of the month) so I’ll be playing a bit more than a normal service. But the choir took the weekend off and the special music doesn’t require an accompanist. All in all, should be a fun hour well spent.

Sunday afternoon will be for relaxing, reading or watching movies. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Quiet Sunday Afternoon

I churned out the last three loaves of bread before the middle of the afternoon yesterday. I also burned The Tenth Inning to two DVDs so my dad could watch it (he missed part of both of them when they aired on PBS a couple of weeks ago). I read almost half my new book Cryoburn by Bujold.

And I tried Westside Family Church’s Online Church for the first time. Terry wasn’t up to travelling to the Legends to attend the Speedway campus service. The Online Church is a live feed from the WFC campus in Lenxa. The message was good (Click Here for my notes) but the music was not as good as the Speedway campus’ praise band.

And I took the dogs to the relatively new dog park in Leavenworth at the north end of the VA grounds just off Limit Street (east from US 73). When I arrived, just before three o’clock, there were no other large dogs. But within ten minutes, and apparently because the Chiefs game was ending or not worth watching, there were ten to twenty dogs in the park. Apollo and Roxy behaved themselves very well. Roxy wore herself out in the first five or ten minutes and eventually just laid down near me to catch her breath. Apollo chased a barky smaller dog (some kind of mottled Shepherd I think) around the park for awhile and then made all sorts of new friends.

My dad met me at the park, as I wanted to give him his fresh baked loaf of White Sandwich Bread and the DVDs I’d burned Sunday. He took a few photos (I had my hands and eyes full keeping a watch on the dogs … people tend to get nervous about Rottweilers). He also loaned me a couple of BluRay DVDs he recently purchased (both versions of Robin Hood from 1991 and 2010). I didn’t think I’d have time or inclination to watch it anytime soon, but when Terry woke up, we started watching it. Very different version or variation on the origins of Robin Hood.

I didn’t even touch the telescope Sunday, except to move it when I was vacuuming the great room. All in all, a very rewarding and relaxing weekend at home.

Sourdough Saturday Ends With Jumping Jupiter and Magnificent Moon

I woke up five minutes before my five o’clock alarm this morning. Not unusual, except for it being a Saturday. But I needed to hit the ground running if I was going to get all the bread baked today.

First thing, I pulled the sourdough crock out of the refrigerator to get it warmed up to room temperature. Second, I quickly mixed up my favorite Honey Wheat bread recipe. While waiting for the bread machine to mix, knead and rise that recipe (elapsed time ninety minutes), I started recording to DVD from the DVR the Belgian Grand Prix (since I’m five GPs behind and only three left for the 2010 season) . I managed to read a few chapters of Cryoburn concurrently.

I shaped the Honey Wheat dough into a loaf and set it to rise for anther forty-five minutes. I took a short break to visit with friends for brunch at Santa Fe Depot. Probably a good choice since the new IHOP in Lansing was overflowing at ten o’clock. After a great visit, I rushed to the Leavenworth Post Office to mail off eight mooched books to various states in the lower forty-eight. I also stopped at the Book Exchange in an attempt to trade some hardcover science fiction novels, but she declined my offerings stating they were currently overstocked with hardcovers.

I returned home, completed my BookMooch and BookCrossing data updates and posted three of the hardcovers to my BookMooch inventory, one of which has already been mooched.

Now the sourdough starter was ready, all bubbly and soury. I modified my Rustic Sourdough bread recipe to work in a bread machine on the dough cycle. My modifications included the following:

1 cup “fed” sourdough starter
1 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast

This reduces the original recipe to a single loaf variation and rather than shaping a traditional round or oval loaf, I used a regular bread pan and scored it like you would a split top loaf.

After I got the Rustic Sourdough into the bread machine, I immediately started the Rosemary Sourdough recipe in the Kitchenaid stand mixer. This recipe should not be over mixed nor kneaded, so it’s a very sticky mess when you scrape it into a glass bowl (generously coated with cooking spray) and covered with clear plastic wrap. Let rise for ninety minutes or more until doubled in size.

The Sourdoughs kept me busy all afternoon. I was able to start another, final loaf before three o’clock, which was one of my family’s favorites: Honey Wheat Black Bread. I shaped it into a braid and waited for it to rise.

With the last loaf still cooling on the rack, I rushed down to Bonner Springs to slip into the KC Ren Fest just before it closed. I have a collection of mugs, steins and goblets going back to 1988. The person at the Will Call window was kind enough to let me into the festival for a few minutes to buy a mug and a goblet. Pickings were slim (this being the last weekend of the festival), but I found a goblet and a stein I liked and quickly returned home.

I was surprised to see my dad’s car parked in the driveway as I thought I had told him to call me if he was going to stop by to partake in some star gazing this evening. Apparently, he arrived at the house just minutes after I left for Bonner Springs.

We waited for the sun to set and started setting up the the telescope in the great room in a polar mount orientation. We moved the equipment out front to the driveway, since Jupiter is not visible from my backyard until around ten o’clock. We determined the sidereal tracking in polar mount worked well and kept Jupiter and it’s three visible moons centered for an hour or so. Feeling confident, we attached the Pentax K100D to attempt a better photo shoot of Jupiter, but quickly realized the weight of the camera was too much for the motors of the telescope. We removed the camera and went back to viewing Jupiter with various eye pieces and barlowes of varying magnifications.

Just before dad was leaving and as we were contemplating putting the equipment back in the great room, the moon (more than half full now) peaked out from behind the pin oak in my side yard (which also shields the driveway from the annoying streetlight planted next to the stop sign in my side yard at the corner of Bambi Court and Fawn Valley. We reoriented the telescope to the moon and began viewing it with various eye pieces. We also tried the moon filter, which helped tone down the incredible brightness funneled through the telescope into our eyes.

After a few minutes of moon gazing, we packed up the equipment and returned it to the great room. We said our good nights and I’m grateful to be off my feet finally. My knees have had enough today.

Sunday will be easier since I only need to make one more loaf (possibly two) and then figure out how to transport six loaves to work via the vanpool without smushing any of them.

Friday Night at the Empty Nest

I stopped by Dillons on the way home for some fresh rosemary and pizza fixings. I found the latter, but not the former, so had to buy rosemay in a spice jar. Sigh. I still made it home by 5:30 or so.

Terry started working on a pizza and I started working on bread production. I set the sourdough starter out to warm up to room temperature. Then I reviewed my White Sandwich Bread recipe, setting out a stick of butter to also warm up to room temperature. I got all the ingredients into the bread machine (dough cycle) before six o’clock. Since it takes about three hours from start to finish, I could be done by nine o’clock.

The pizza turned out wonderful and we decided to watch a couple of new episodes of Mythbusters – ‘Hair of the Dog’ and featuring the Stormchasers and surviving tornado-like winds in a vehicle or, if you’re Jamie Hyneman, an aerodynamic tent he engineered, constructed and tested in winds up to 180 mph. I should check the Patent Office to see if he filed an application on that idea.

During the second episode of Mythbusters, I setup the telescope with the camera attached because the early evening was perfect for viewing the moon – clear and no wind. I took several photos of the moon using various settings on the camera but I’m not sure the results were noticably different. Click here to see for yourself.

I removed the camera from the telescpe and tried nearly all the eyepiece lenses in my case, down to a 4 mm one focused on the terminus on the moon. Outstanding clarity and magnification. On Jupiter, I got down to a 9 mm, but without putting the telescope in sidereal tracking mode, the image of Jupiter only stayed ‘on screen’ for a couple of seconds.

I completely forgot about my rising bread loaf so I got behind schedule by about 30-45 minutes; even so, the bread came out of the over looking and smelling wonderful. I brought the telescope back in for the night and headed up to bed.

I woke back up at eleven o’clock because I’d forgotten to start a process at work that I wanted to run over the weekend. I got that going and then cracked open a newly released book I pre-ordered from Barnes & Noble in late September: Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold (a long awaited installment in the Vorkosigan Saga). I got to page seven before I fell asleep. It’s very good, but I was very tired.

Donating Bread for United Way Auction

Yes, it’s that time of year again. The United Way fund raising campaign is in full swing where I work. Last year, one of the events that had good participation, was an auction. I baked and donated three loaves of bread. I received ‘the call’ earlier this week, from one of the auction coordinators, asking if I’d repeat my bread baking performance again this year.

So, starting this evening (since the auction is next Tuesday, only four days away), I’ll be baking bread almost non stop over the weekend. A couple of these loaves I’ll make extras for my dad and husband (otherwise, I’ll get the usual grief).

First up, the basic melt-in-your-mouth white bread recipe I make for my dad, based on King Arthur Flour‘s ‘guaranteed’ White Sandwich Bread recipe. When I take it out of the over to cool on a rack, I take a stick of butter and rub/melt it to soften the crust. I might be able to get two of these made tonight, one batch of dough in the bread machine and another in the KitchenAid stand mixer.

Saturday morning, I’ll take out from the fridge my crock of sourdough starter (also originating from King Arthur) and feed it. After a couple of hours, I’ll be able to use the fed starter to make a couple of specialty bread recipes: Rustic Sourdough and Rosemary Sourdough (that reminds me … need to pick up organic rosemary at Dillons tonight).

Since Sourdough takes longer than ‘normal’ breads, I’ll concurrently make up a batch of Honey Wheat Black Bread, which is fun to make (lots of honey in this recipe) because I get to braid the dough.

The final installment will be baked on Sunday. My all-time favorite bread recipe and (so far) fool proof: Honey Wheat Toasting Oat (with Craisins). This bread makes fantastic toast.

Perhaps I should make it an even half dozen loaves and bake one more on Sunday? I could round out the suite of breads with my old standby honey wheat bread recipe, which we lovingly refer to as my ‘trashy’ wheat bread because it’s not 100% whole wheat (so it’s not like a brick or crumbly and dry) and it’s delicious.

So if you’re a fellow co-worker and you love home-made bread from great ingredients, be sure to stop by the auction on Tuesday and place your bid.

Photos of some of my braided bread: