Surprises, Sourdough, and Sewing

   This week has been busy, fun and very full. The thought of quiet weekend at home—complete with sleeping in—sounds so appealing and lovely right now.
     Last Friday a  friend and I went to my parents to visit and pick mayhaws for jelly.
   On Saturday we helped move Jacob’s grandmother from our city to live with her daughter about an hour away. We were in the truck a lot and I was able to get a lot done on a doily I’m working on.
  Tuesday was my mother’s birthday and I managed to surprise her early that morning for her birthday. Since we had seen each other on Friday she did not expect to see me again so soon. She also knew that I’m covered up in sewing jobs right now. I headed out early when Jacob left for work.  About 10 minutes before I got to her house I called her to wish her happy birthday and we visited for a minute. Long story short, I was in her kitchen before she realized I was there. It was so much fun and we had a great day together.
Also this week I rediscovered my love of sourdough bread. On a whim last week I started some sourdough starter. The last time I tried that it was a disaster and I ended killing the starter. So I tried again. Monday was the first day I was able to make bread with the starter, and oh my goodness, I’m an addict now!

I made a loaf of bread and used the rest of the dough for pizza crusts. I don’t know if I can ever go back to anything but sourdough bread again. I’ll be sharing the recipe for the starter and my bread soon.
  And once again I am busy with a wedding. I believe this is my third wedding in six months. I have projects and commitments lined up until almost September.
I am also about to start on a dedication dress for this sweet angel Ellie:


I made this little dress for her and we were trying to get a picture of it for my business’ Facebook page, but  she didn’t feel like smiling and her hand tasted too good. Drop by her mommy’s (my good friend Kristin) blog to read the amazing story of how the Lord kept her and gave her to us. She is truly a miracle!

Amazing Refrigerator Rolls

In case you haven’t noticed, I love breads. Bread is one my most favorite things to make and eat. I’m always on the look out for new recipes and I try out many of them.

I stumbled across this recipe in The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook. It is my new favorite cookbook. My parents gave it to me for Christmas last year and I’m finally beginning to be able to use it.

These are very convenient because you mix them up the day before you need them. You can also make them over a few days—like I did—in case you don’t need all 4 1/2 dozen at one time.

Refrigerator Rolls

1 T yeast

2 c warm water

Stir together in medium bowl and let stand 5 minutes.

6 c flour

1/2 c sugar

2 t salt

Mix in a large bowl.

1/2 c shortening

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Cut shortening into flour mixture with a pastry blender until crumbly. Stir in yeast mixture and eggs until just blended. Cover and chill for 8 hours.

Shape as desired; cover and let rise in a greased pan for 45 minutes or until doubled. (I let mine rise for almost 2 hours and the texture was amazing.)

Bake at 400 F for 14 minutes or until golden. Brush with melted butter.

Yield: 4 1/2 dozen.

Banana Nut Bread

I am not a banana eater. I liked them when I was younger but can live without them now. My husband loves bananas but he eats them in phases. The last several times I’ve bought bananas I’ve had several go bad. I would forget to freeze them for later use in smoothies or recipes or whatever.  Yesterday I had some reach that point where they either needed to be used or frozen because it was almost over for them.
I mentioned banana bread a couple of weeks ago to Jacob and he had been after me ever since to make some and yesterday was the day. It turned out so delicious and yummy and made the apartment smell heavenly.
 I can never wait for the bread to cool completely before diving in. I love it with butter and a tall glass of milk. Hope you enjoy this quick and easy recipe!
Banana Nut Bread
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease and flour the bottom of a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 c. chopped pecans
Mix together in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and set aside.
Stir together the following:
1/2 butter, melted
3 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup plain yogurt (optional)
1 t vanilla extract
Add to dry ingredients and stir until moistened. Pour into prepared loaf pan.
Bake at 350 for 1 hour-1 hour 5 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan and allow to cool completely on wire wrack. Yield: 1 loaf
This recipe can also be used to make muffins.

Bulldozers and cinnamon rolls

Our spring break is over and life has to get back to normal. Hopefully I can get on a more regular blogging schedule again! Here are a few pictures—I didn’t take my camera out the entire time :( but thanks to my pastor’s wife I have a few.

We had a wonderful time at the deerlease—we played the whole time. Jacob got to do quite a bit of bulldozer work in a few of the fields.

One evening Sis. Melody (my pastor’s wife) and I whipped up some cinnamon rolls. They turned out soooooo delicious. Last year I didn’t make any until the last evening and almost everyone had already gone home. This year they wanted me to make them the very first evening I was there—they didn’t want to miss out again.

Mmmm going back and looking at the photos again makes me want to make another batch!

But now life is back to normal and I have a mountain laundry to conquer. It will take quite a bit of doing to get things back to how like I them. My livingroom still has luggage everywhere. It was late when we got home Saturday night and almost the whole day Sunday is spent at church so today is catch-up day. And I’ve got a lot to catch up on.

On another note, I’ve added some new items to my Etsy shop. Stop by and check them out if you have a minute.

Til later,

Rebecca

24 Days of Thanksgiving; Days 18 &19

Ok so I said I should be able to start posting more regularly since we're settled in, but I wasn't expecting  the effect my husband's work schedule to make such an impact on my day ;)
 While we are here--at least for a little while--Jacob is working four ten hour days. That means we have a three day weekend every weekend. That's like two Saturdays in a row!
 That's what I'm thankful for today and yesterday.
 We slept in, which is something we haven't be able to do in forever and Jacob made breakfast. Jacob washed his truck and I cut out sewing patterns, but other than that we did a whole lotta nothing.  We made supper together and I tried out a new dinner roll recipe. (Recipe below) I'll be making them for Thanksgiving this year.
 I think today we'll probably venture out and maybe do some Christmas shopping.
  I'm so thankful for our uninterrupted, relaxed time together. I know that it won't always be like this, so I want to cherish and end enjoy every moment.

30 Minute Rolls

1 C plus 2 Tbsp warm water
1/3 C oil
2 Tbsp yeast
1/4 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
3 1/2 C flour

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
In your mixer bowl combine the water, oil, yeast and sugar and allow it to rest for 15 minutes.  Using your dough hook, mix in the salt, egg and flour.  Knead with hook until will incorporated and dough is soft and smooth. (Just a few minutes)
Form dough into 12 balls and then place in a greased 9 x 13 pan and allow to rest for 10 minutes.  Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees or until golden brown.

Recipe from Real Mom Kitchen

Overnight Whole Wheat Bread/Rolls

This is one of the easiest bread recipes I've ever made. It isn't fast, but you can start it and forget it. It has a very nice sourdough taste without the work of keeping a starter. It can be shaped into loaves or rolls. You mix it up the night before and finish it the next morning. I've even started it early in the morning and finished it that evening for supper.  Hope you enjoy!


For the overnight dough:

2 cups lukewarm water
1 T honey
2 T yeast
3 cups whole wheat flour (my favorite is Golden 86 or Prairie Gold, or just a hard white wheat)
1 1/2 T salt

Dissolve honey in warm water and stir in yeast.
Place flour and salt in a large bowl and stir well. Add the yeast liquid and stir until well combined. (Don't knead the dough at this point.)
Cover and let rise at room temperature overnight.

Morning mixture to add to the dough:

2/3 cup lukewarm water
1 T honey
2 T yeast
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup butter

Dissolve honey in water. Stir in yeast, let stand til frothy. While yeast proofs, melt the butter.
Add three cups of flour, melted butter and yeast mixture to the overnight dough. Stir to mix well.
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead til soft and smooth. Use as much of the additional half cup of flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking.

For loaves: Divide dough into two portions. Shape and place in 2 greased loaf pans or on a greased cookie sheet for free form rolls.
For Rolls: Divide dough into 18 pieces and shape into rolls. Place on floured cookie sheets, two inches apart, and let rise til doubled, approx 30 minutes.

While the dough is rising, preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until light brown and the loaves sound hollow. Note: when you remove the bread/rolls from the oven they may have a very strong yeasty aroma. This will fade when the bread cools.