Rainy Day Apron Making...

Ahhh... It is a beautiful rainy day here. Perfect weather for some indoor crafting and cooking. We had a few projects going today, I really wanted to try making a pillowcase dress, but I was getting confused over the simplicity of the instructions. Sooooo, instead of making a dress the wise Mimi suggested I try making an APRON (she said it was going to be easy). Ha, well I don't sew.... I would LOVE to learn to sew... But patterns seem really scary to me, and I can never figure out which line to cut on. Yadda yadda yadda.... So, I made one from scratch with no pattern (But lots of imagination). The heart is a bit large, but hey I'm pretty proud of the work I did. I even attempted a button hole (I don't think I did it right). HOORAY!

So while I made an apron for Rosie, Angel made a pot of veggie soup from our garden bounty: I do let Angel use a chefs knife, I think its easier to control a chefs knife versus a paring knife. All her fingers are intact, and her soup was d'lish. Here is the recipe for her soup

Mimi! Mimi! Hows does your garden Grow?

Angels mission was to document the progress in Mimi's garden, here is what she saw..

And here is what I saw... Sooooo Pretty!!!!

Not a whole lot more to write about, feel a bit tired this eve. Until next time...

Watching bread rise, Is not for the faint of heart

Well, to start out my morning I needed to combine all my ingredients for my Peasant bread.
Ingredients:
2 cup + 1 tbsp warm water
1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup sponge , pulled into small pieces(made yesterday)
6 cup bread flour
1/2 cup light, or medium rye flour
1 Tbsp sea salt
Directions:
1) In bowl of stand mixer add 1/4 cup warm water, and yeast. Let stand 10 minutes until foamy.
2) Add 1/2 cup more water and sponge. Using paddle attachment mix on low for 2 minutes. Add the flours, salt, and the remaining 1 1/4 cup water, mix 1 minute more. Switch to
dough hook attachment and mix on med-low speed, pulling dough from hook 2-3 times, until dough is soft and stick to finger when squeezed, about 8 minutes (or knead by hand 15-20 minutes, ouch sore arms).
3) On a lightly floured surface, knead dough into a ball. Place smooth side up in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap; let dough rise in a warm place until it has tripled in size (approx 3 hours).

4) Turn dough out onto floured surface. Flour the top and cut in half. Roll up one piece of dough lengthwise, flatten slightly, and roll lengthwise again. Cup you hands around the sides of the dough and apply slight pressure while moving them in small circular motions, until the top of the dough is rounded and

the

bottom is smooth. Flour a piece of parchment and place dough on it; cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap, and then cover with towel. Repeat process with remaining dough. Let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, approx 50 minutes. Thirty minutes before before this final rise is completed, place a baking stone or heavy baking sheet in the oven and an empty baking pan on the lowest shelf. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. In a saucepan on the stove , bring 2 cups water almost to a boil.

5) Sprinkle dough with flour; dimple the tops of your bread with you fingerprints, or the fingerprints of certain 3 and 6 years olds living under your roof ( pronounced 'ruff'). Let rise 10 minutes more. Using a baking peel pr baking sheet, slide the loaves and parchment into the over. Pour the hot water into the pan beneath the loaves. Bake until dark golden brown, and loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, 25-30 minutes, Transfer to a wire rack and cool 30 minutes before slicing. And the pour a glass of wine (regardless of the time) and watch the Olympics.

***Things I learned today:
1) my kitchen aid mixer does not like to mix dense things like dough (It began to smoke)
2) kneading is a form of exercise, and it is quite grueling ( like breaking a sweat)
3) shaping dough is not easy, and it take lots of practice
4) kids don't think waiting for dough to rise is fun


So now, I need to deliver my bread to the Nurse Practitioner and her family as payment for her medical services ( Why can't all docs accept fresh baked bread as payment? Maybe they do somewhere, Perhaps the south of France?? I wonder what housing costs are over there, haha hehe), and when I return we will enjoy our peasant bread with our pot roast delicioso.


Oh and before I go one more recipe I concocted today:



BLACKBERRY ALMOND MUFFINS
Ingredients:
3/4 cups ( 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
2 cups AP flour
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract ( I am out of almond extract or else I would have used that instead)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup blackberries, washed
3/4 cup sliced almonds

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, Butter and flour 12 cup muffin tin, tap out extra, set aside. We don't use paper cups because they are a waste of paper.
2)In separate bowls mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients (reserving the blackberries and almonds for the last step. Create a well in the center of your dry ingredients, pour the wet in the well and stir to combine just until mixed. *DON'T OVER MIX* Lumpy batter = good, smooth batter = tunneling, looks like an ant farm ate through your muffies. Finally gently fold in you blackberries and almond.
3) spoon batter 3/4 full in muffin tins, you can sprinkle top tops with sugar to make them crunchy if you wish. Bake 15-20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean from center. Cool on wire rack and enjoy!!!

Making... And then Breaking Bread...

On the menu for tomorrow night... Peasant bread, and Pot Roast ( I make a killer pot roast). I had to start the bread this morning at 9 am, Peasant bread is a chewy, tangy, crusty bread. In order to get some tang out of your bread you first have to start a 'sponge'. The sponge is a mixture of flour, water, and yeast. The sponge is then set out for 24-72 hours in order to ferment, I will be fermenting mine for 24hrs.
Above : my mise en place, meaning everything in its place. I always try and gather my mise en place first so I am not running around like crazy.




Recipe for Sponge:


1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
3 1/2 cups bread flour
olive oil, for bowl

Directions:


1) In the bowl of an electric mixer combine 1/4 cup warm water and the yeast. Let stand until the yeast is foamy, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups water and the flour; mix on low for 2 minutes. The dough will be wet ( very sticky, but still firm)


2) Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; let stand at room temp for 24 hours. The sponge is then ready for use.








Image to the the left: this is how my sponge looked when I first put it in the bowl, it has already doubled in size, and I needed to put it in a bigger bowl.






Pot Roast Delicioso:
Serves 4 w/ leftovers

5# boneless beef pot roast
1/4 cup red wine
1 can campbells cream of mushroom w/ roasted garlic
1 box lipton beefy onion soup mix (2 pkgs) (If I don't have this I just thinly slice an onion and throw it in)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
2 sprigs rosemary, washed, leaves pulled off and chopped
3 carrots, peeled and cut in to 2 inch pieces
4 red potatoes, washed and halved
S & P to taste

Directions: Set your crock pot on low. Add the mushroom soup, the red wine, the dried soup mix, rosemary, and garlic, whisk until smooth. Add the pot roast and set timer for 5 hours. When 2 hours remain add the potatoes and carrots. Don't forget to season. Cook until, beef is tender enough to be pulled apart with a fork.

**Note: don't forget to make french dip sammies the next day!