Every Wednesday (ok, most Wednesdays!) I share a baking recipe. And lots of pictures of said baking recipe. I don’t call this Wednesday Baking because I bake solely on Wednesdays…no, my oven gets a workout much more frequently than once a week! Wednesday just happens to be the day I share baking recipes with you. All the past baking posts are archived in the Wednesday Baking category, which can also be found in a tab underneath my blog header.
I don’t really have a recipe for you today. But I am going to talk about baking.
On Monday, I didn’t get around to thinking about dinner until a little later than I should have, so I decided to make some no-knead batter rolls.
They turned out lovely and fluffy, but as I was taking them out of the pan, thoughts of salt began to flood my mind, and I suddenly realized that I had added none to the dough.
Augh!
This has happened to me before, almost always when I’m using a Better Homes and Gardens recipe, because, at least in their older cookbooks, some not-so-bright person decided to only list the salt in the directions, and not in the ingredient list.
Whhyyyyyy, Better Homes and Gardens? Whyyyy?
And not only was I annoyed with BH&G, but I was very annoyed with myself because I’ve made this same stupid mistake a number of times before.
No more, though! The power of the green ink circle will keep me from committing this error again.
Fortunately, I’d used salted butter in place of the shortening, and when you split the rolls open and spread the insides with salted butter, the lack of salt wasn’t manifestly obvious (I said nothing and none of my fellow diners seemed to notice).
So, then yesterday after I taught piano for most of the day, I decided that I’d make some whole wheat rolls to go with dinner (oddly enough, that’s the recipe right next to the Batter Roll recipe in the above photo!). I vacillated a bit, not sure I had time to get this done and still get dinner ready on time, but then just decided to go for it.
I ground the wheat, mixed up the dough (I even added salt!), and kneaded it.
To speed things along, I put the dough into a warm oven to let it rise.
After 45 minutes, I checked on it, and was surprised to see that it looked…not much different.
And that’s when I realized my yeast container hadn’t been used yet.
Whoops.
So, I dissolved some yeast in some warm water, added some flour, kneaded that mixture into the dough, and carried on.
By then, of course, it was too late to have rolls with dinner.
So we had biscuits instead.
And we will just eat the rolls at breakfast and lunch.
I think I need to make some buns for the tonight’s shrimp burgers, so I’m hoping to break my string of baking disasters.
I can do this, right? 😉
Today’s 365 post: Well, this is new.
Ellen
Tuesday 22nd of March 2011
I dislike recipes that add in ingredients within the directions too. Sometimes I'll just rewrite the recipe out or I'll add it to the ingredient list directly in the book. Come and see my coconut pound cake (okay, my grandmother's coconut pound cake) - there's NO salt in that recipe! :)
Sheila D.
Monday 21st of March 2011
Please excuse all the typos! I just copied and pasted it! ;)
Sheila D.
Monday 21st of March 2011
I JUST got this email from my father-in-law (addressed to the whole family). It reminded me of the daily mishaps that I beat myself up for. I applaud your "chin up and carry on" attitude! ;)
When I was al kid, my Mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work.
On that evening so long ago, my Mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed!!
Yet all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my Mom and ask me how my day was at school.
I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that ugly burned biscuit. He ate every bite of that thing....never made a face nor uttered a word about it!
When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my Mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget what he said: "Honey, I love burned biscuits every now and then"
Later than night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned! He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides....a little burned biscuit never hurt anyone!"
As I've grown older, I've thought about that many times. Life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people. I'm not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else but what I've learned over the years is that learning to accept other's faults...and choosing to celebrate each other differences...
is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship....
And that's my prayer for you today....that you will learn to take the the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of God. Because in the end, He's the only one who will be able to give you a relationship where a burnt biscuit isn't a deal-breaker We could extend this to any relationship... In fact, understanding is the base of any relationship, be it a husband and wife or parent-child or friendship!
Don't put the key to your happiness in someone Else's pocket......keep it in your own."
So, please pass me a biscuit, and yes, the burned one will do just fine!
And please pass this along to someone who has enriched your life. Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle!
Rebecca Kipe
Wednesday 16th of March 2011
So you grind your own wheat?! I've been interested in possibly doing this. Would you comment on where you get the wheat and what use for grinding and your process...do you grind it just as needed or grind ahead and then freeze the flour?
Jenny
Wednesday 16th of March 2011
Hmmm...when things like that start happening to me it's usually a sign that I have too much on my plate and need to look at my commitments. I'm forgetting ingredients because my mind is a million miles away already working onthe next task.
Kristen
Wednesday 16th of March 2011
Yep...that's what happened both days. I'm always fried at the end of a Tuesday (I teach piano all day, and I am rethinking that), and Monday was a weird day because I spent my morning getting tires on my van, and then I had a couple of unusual work tasks I had to take care of after that.