In Which I Entertain Children, Bake Bread, Make a Discovery, and Take a Really Great Photo

Picky Eater had a friend over, and I was thinking of activities they could do together. I thought about making some play dough, but then it occurred to me to have them make real bread instead.

So I whipped up this dough, and let them play with it a while (read: they did the kneading).

Then, they shaped their rolls and I baked them. I also baked some standard-shaped rolls that were not kneaded by dirty second grade fingers. Just because, you know, the rest of us wanted some, too.

Please, please proof your yeast*! I cannot tell you enough just how important this simple step can be. Rarely does yeast not cooperate. It's usually quite willing to munch on your sugar and bulk up like it's meant to. But sometimes, it doesn't. Just today, I had to scrap my proof mixture and start again because a packet of yeast didn't rise. Thanks to proofing, I only had to throw out a cup of milk, a half cup of maple syrup, and a packet of yeast, rather than the entire recipe. Don't get me wrong: it hurt to throw away that syrup especially, but better to restart than to have a failed recipe.

*Proofing is when you combine your warmed liquid, your sweet ingredient, and your yeast, and you let them sit undisturbed for ten minutes or so. At the end of ten minutes, your mixture should have doubled in size. If it hasn't, throw it out. Your yeast is no good.

Maple Dinner Rolls
They're not sweet.

What You Need:

• 1 cup warm evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup maple syrup (pure, not pancake syrup)
• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup melted butter (can substitute oil)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 3 to 4 cups all-purpose flour (I used unbleached King Arthur flour)

How it's Done:

• Proof your yeast. Combine yeast, warm milk, and warm maple syrup. Stir it up and let it sit for 10 minutes.
• Come back 10 minutes later, and stir in the beaten egg, melted butter, and sea salt. Gradually add in flour until a soft dough forms.
• Knead 6 to 8 minutes until smooth.
• Let rise for an hour. Punch down, and divide into 24 equal pieces. Now, I like to roll mine into ropes and curl them around in a spiral (I've done it lots of times before), but you can simply roll them into balls and leave them like that. Let them rise another 30 minutes.
• Bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes. Brush with melted butter. If you sprinkle them with sea salt and garlic powder, they taste just like Olive Garden's bread sticks. Yeah, next time I'm making them into bread sticks instead of spirals. I'm thrilled with that discovery!

I am really proud of this picture. :) My food photography has come a long way since January 1, 2010.

Where Have I Been?

Oops! I missed two days of blogging! Sorry for the absence. I was here:

Providence Canyon in Lumpkin, Georgia. What a view!

We were the first people on the trail that morning. It wasn't too hot, but it sure was humid. We hiked to the canyon floor and explored for a few hours.

It was so much fun romping through the woods, splashing in puddles and observing nature with my sister. In the end, I was hot and sweaty and dirty and tired. But it was more than worth the discomfort. And the ruined sneakers. It was a memorable day spent with the sister I don't spend enough time hanging out with -- and I hope I get to do it again soon.

Me. Hot. Sweaty. Having the time of my life. :)

I've also been cooking and decorating and planning for a dinner party, which I'll share with you within the next couple of days. Italian food and good company: What could be better? For now, it's after suppertime. Would you like some dessert? My Picky Eater and I threw this together today. We hope you enjoy it. See you tomorrow!

More Than Oats Bars

Because they started out as oat bars. But we added to them.

What You Need:

• 2 sticks (1 cup) butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or other nut)
• 1 cup chocolate chips

How it's Done:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9x11" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Beat butter with sugars until creamy. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating well between additions. Add vanilla and beat to incorporate.
3. Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add to batter and beat until it's all blended in. Stir in the rest of the ingredients: the wheat germ, the oats, the coconut, the walnuts, and the chocolate chips.
4. Spread the dough into the prepared pan. Press it down with the palms of your hands to even it out.
5. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until a pick inserted near center comes out clean. The top will be a golden brown.
6. Let cool for 20 minutes or so before cutting into squares and serving.

I Love to Make My Own

Day 29.

January is almost gone! I was supposed to have oral surgery today, but the dentist wants me on antibiotics through the weekend, so I have to go back Monday afternoon. The anticipation is the worst. I need a lot of work in my mouth, and it's going to be a while before I'm up to eating "real food" again. I've been trying to come up with things I will be able to easily eat. Since what I can eat will be limited, I need to make sure that what I do eat is nutritious. I was thinking about:

• split pea soup with NO HAM, pureed till smooth - Lots of protein, fiber, and very filling






• Muscle Milk. I bought some at GNC today.






• yogurt. I have a yogurt maker. Yes, I even make my own yogurt. :)






• Ice cream! Ditto. I have the KichenAid ice cream attachment, and it makes delicious ice cream. I was thinking it would be nice blended with my Muscle Milk.






• Soup with tiny pasta, like orzo, and tiny bits of spinach, over-cooked.

What do you eat when you have dental work done, or have mouth pain? Baby food is out. So are mashed potatoes. I existed on these foods solely the whole time I was healing from my wisdom teeth removal in my teens. Thinking about eating them makes my stomach churn.

I picked up this little gem at Tuesday Morning today. You should see if you have a Tuesday Morning in your town. They're great little shops with plenty of surprises. You never know what you're going to find a Tuesday morning: French Milled Soap. Plush doggy beds. One-of-a-kind trivets. Ice pop makers. You just never know.

Anyway, always a sucker for a kitchen gadget, and loving making my own things, I couldn't pass this up at $9.99. The box provides a website for buying more bags for the freeze pops, and you use your own juice (there's a recipe booklet for mixing flavors, but we went with straight Juicy Juice Tropical this time), which means no nasty chemicals or weird coloring.

It was a fun 15 minutes spent with my daughter. It was simple enough that she was able to do most of it by herself with me snapping away with the camera.

First, you measure your juice. The measuring cup's markings are done by "pop." One pop, two pops, three pops, or four pops.

Then, you pour the juice into the top of the plunger. The top of the plunger is like a giant funnel, making it easy for little kids to pour the juice in without making a mess of things.

Next you put a freeze pop bag onto the nozzle and press the plunger down. Juice flows into the bag. One plunge equals one filled freeze pop bag. The bags self-seal when you take them off, which we both thought was really, really cool.

The next step is admiring your handiwork and putting the freeze pops in the freezer to harden.

I suspect this will be a hit with the whole neighborhood this summer. I love it because it allows the kids to make something on their own AND it gets 100% juice into them instead of 100% artificial colors and flavors. I can't wait till the day I own a juicer. Imagine the flavor combinations we'll make then!

I give this product an 8 on the Kid Friendly Cooking scale. It's simple, fun, economical, quick to assemble, takes NO batteries, and encourages healthy eating for children. It's easy to clean up and doesn't take up much storage space. The self-sealing bags add immensely to the coolness factor. Also, the set comes with Popsicle molds, which we didn't use today, but definitely will use in the future. The box says this is for ages 5 & up, and I agree with that recommendation. Smaller hands will have a hard time pushing the plunger, but a parent could help with that part.

Sometimes, All You Need is Cake.

Day 21.



It's my birthday.

Every year, for everyone's birthday, I make cake. I take special orders: what flavor, what color, what design? And I make a cake.

Even my own.



No, really, I enjoy it, and prefer my cake over store-bought.

This year, I was going to make sponge cake with alternating filling layers of blueberry and lemon, with fondant icing and a big white fondant bow on top. Simple, elegant, delicious.

Then my daughter told me that she wanted to make me a cake. I was so touched by her generosity...by her thinking of me... Of course I agreed to forego my traditional cake baking and let her run the show! And run the show she did! She made a cake from scratch with no adult assistance at all. She found the recipes. She did it all. And we got to eat it.

And it was good.

I am so proud of my little cake baker. But most of all, I am so proud of her spirit of giving.

Bayberry's Dark Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (Borrowed from Kittencal at Recipezaar)

frosts top and sides of a double layer 9" round cake, with leftovers for licking and sharing with siblings

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup 1/2 & 1/2
• 1/2 cup dark unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

How it's Done:

1. Cream butter in mixing bowl. Add cocoa. Beat in sugar and 1/2 & 1/2 and vanilla, alternating adding sugar and 1/2 & 1/2 / vanilla until smooth and creamy. Stop every so often and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
2. Frost cake as desired.