Progress and Pies!

I am teaching baking in Home Economics this year.  I have one sixth grade grade girl.  Today we made homemade apple pies.  I made one and she made one.  We used the recipe from The World Needs More Pie, here.  I love this recipe, although we still have apples left over.

 Yesterday our homeschool group hiked up to a cave.  It was pretty cool.

 I started making these 3-D bowties about four years ago.  I'll make a few once or twice a year.  I think I need to get busy.  LOL  They are four inch blocks.

 My husband got me a new cutting mat for my cutting table.  The grey matches better then that green did.  He knows what makes me happy!

 I got all of my sashing cut for cake blocks.  I'm just waiting on my last cake before sewing it together.  After I get it sewed together, I'll take it to my LQS to pick the fabric for the border.

 Of course Tiger wanted to help me!  I cut a 2 inch sashing to make it 1 1/2 inches.

If you missed my post with all of the patterns used for these blocks, you can find it here.

I do not have anything planned for tomorrow and do not plan on doing any housework.  That necessary but boring job of housework when I would much rather be sewing!  Therefore I have decided to take the day off from housework too and sew!

This morning my husband woke me up at 7:30.  I turned off my alarm when it went off at 7:00.  He asked me why I was not up yet and I told him it was Saturday and I did not have to get up.   He laughed and said it was Wednesday and I had to teach today.  I jumped out of bed!  My brain did not want to get up this morning after that storm last night!

I hope you are able to get some sewing or cooking done.  What ever it is that you love to do!
Missy

Buttery Sourdough Rolls

 I made some delicious rolls tonight!  These will be perfect for Thanksgiving!  I made these pretty big so that we could use them as buns, so if you make rolls I would recommend making them half the size.  I cut them in half for the buns, aren't they pretty?

 Ingredients
1 cup sourdough starter
3 cups flour (I used two cups unbleached white and one cup hard white whole wheat)
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda (helps with the rising for a fluffier roll)
1 large egg
5 tablespoons soft butter
2/3 cup lukewarm water

Directions
1)  Combine all of the ingredients in a large bow, mix and knead to make a soft, smooth dough.  I let it mix in my stand mixer for five minutes on a medium setting, but my mixer has a 1,000 wattage, so your mixer might be different.  This does all the kneading for me.  I did add a little flour since it was  too wet and kneaded it for a couple of minutes by hand while forming it into a ball.
2)  Place the dough in a lightly greased container and let it rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until it has doubled in size.
(You can go ahead and form into balls here and bake or do a second rising.  Both worked well.)
3)  Lightly grease a casserole dish or cookie sheet.  I think next time I will use my stoneware.  I made big buns, for rolls, make them half the size.
4)  Cover the pans and let rise for 60 minutes. Don't let them rise too long.  Towards the end of the  rising time, preheat the oven to 350F
5)  Bake the rolls for 22-25 minutes and buns for 32-35 minutes, depending on your oven.
6)  Brush the tops with butter after you take them out of the oven.  Serve warm!
We put barbecued beef on ours.

If you are having problems with your dough rising (this is for yeast and sourdough), there are a couple of tricks you can try.  I keep my house pretty cold in the winter.  (a)  You can fill your sink with hot water and turn a bowl upside down and set the dough in a bowl on top of the upside down bowl.  The steam and heat will help your dough rise.  (b)  wash your dishes and set your dough on top of the dishwasher, again the steam and heat from the dishwasher will help with the rising.  (c)  today I sat the dough right next to my crockpot and the heat from the crockpot helped.

Be sure you do not leave the burner on!  We were sitting there eating supper and I asked my husband if he smelled something burning.  He ran into the kitchen and my favorite pot holder, which hangs above the stove, had caught on fire!  He said a couple of more minutes and there would have been flames!  I'm so sad over the loss of my potholder, what a stupid thing to do!  Luckily I had pulled the pan off the burner already.  My kitchen is green and yellow and matched perfectly.  Can you see my sad face?

If you have extra rolls, you can put them in the freezer and pull them out as you need them.
If you have any questions, be sure to ask!
Happy Baking!
Missy

A few things I like to bake with

Doesn't everyone have their favorite things to bake with?  Here are a few things I find useful.  First put on your favorite apron, whether it is one you have made, or one you have bought - does not make a difference.
Unlike in this previous picture, always pull your hair back and plait it in some way.  When your hair is as long as mine, a ponytail can still shed!  LOL

I had been decorating a cake before taking this picture, and I am still wearing my bandanna.  I wear bandannas in lieu of hair nets.

Spatulas are a must also!  Both my spatulas are from Wilton and in my favorite colors, green and yellow!  Have fun in your kitchen and buy things that make you smile!  I use the small scoop from Pampered Chef for my cookies, mini cupcakes and stuff like that.  The ice cream scoop is for cupcakes and pancakes.  It is much easier to be uniform when using a scoop and the slider thingy (is that a word?) makes sure all the batter comes out easily.  No muss, no fuss!

Invest in a good sifter!  My husband bought this one for me.  Always sift your powdered sugar to ensure you do not have any blockages in your tips.  When baking with wheat flour, always sift and throw away the bits in the sifter, DO NOT pour them into your batter!  This will help in softer baked goods.  I prefer whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour over regular wheat  flour. It has the same nutrients, but it is a softer flour and bakes better without giving your breads a corn bread texture!   I love organic unbleached all-purpose flour.  Who wants bleach in their cakes?  So sift, sift, and sift some more!

Be sure to invest in some great cookbooks!  I have a ton of cookbooks that I love to use, including the cookbook my church has put out!

You should also invest in some great cake decorating books!  2 Timothy 2:15 says "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."  This verse is talking about the Bible, but you should also apply it to other aspects of your life. I do not want to be ashamed of something I have baked or created because I did not take the time to study about it! I love to study cookbooks and cake decorating books to improve my art.  No matter how long you have been baking and cooking, there is always something new to learn.  Don't forget to use the recipes out of your cake decorating books, after all who would have better recipes then the experts?
Now go bake yourself a cake!
Missy