Thursday, January 25, 2007

More Bread

You asked for it, you get it. Since two whole people wanted to know how I make my bread "pretty", I'll dedicate almost an entire blog entry. ;)


For the record, I LIKE my bread this way, but I don't think it's anything to squawk about... but, the bishops wife thought it was pretty too, so maybe it is a little more "special" than a traditional loaf...

Step One: Two blobs of dough.



Step Two: Roll the "blobs" into "logs"







Step Three: One log over the other



Step Four: Lather, rinse, repeat






Step Five: One more time now






Step Six: Pan it up





Step Seven: Let it rise, bake it up


Step Eight: Brush with a bit of butter... and then have a piece already!!! ;)

Okay, so happy breadmaking all.

Tonight for dinner we had stuffed peppers. YUM! The boys weren't to keen on the pepper part, but the *guts* of it were mighty tasty. Madison has yet to try hers (the picky little stink...) Here are the peppers just after being put in the oven.

And I forgot to take a picture of them all pretty baked in the pan, but grabbed the last one and put it on a plate to snap a quick shot. The "white stuff" on top is cheese. The flash kind of makes it look weird, but oh well.

Man, am I domestic or WHAT?!?!? *winks*

PS... AMANDA! Heck yeah, I like *totally* want your wheat sugar cookie recipe... *Pretty Please*???

5 comments:

frugalmom said...

Another question for you--I notice you have the stoneware loaf pans...Are they totally a pain to store, do you nest them or what? I have always used the cheap non-stick Bakers Secret-type pans and haven't had any trouble, and haven't bought the stone pans because I didn't want to store them or spend that much on 6 pans.

Heidi said...

I *really* like my stoneware pans, but honestly, I got them because of my old oven. I had MAJOR temp. issues with the old oven, and it either underbaked or overbaked everything. I bought my stoneware to see if it would help regulate temperature. It worked really well with the old oven, but they're even NICER with an oven that actually works!!! LOL

You're not suposed to store them nested, but I do. I've had 2 of my pans for just over 5 years, and the 3rd one just about 4 yrs. And lots of times, I make so much bread they don't get put away... (blush) But when I DO store them, they're stacked together in a drawer.

I have a stoneware "cookie sheet" that we really like. (Again, got it for the same oven problem years ago... It really bakes our biscuits perfectly!) I want a stoneware pizza stone really bad now because of a GREAT pizza dough recipe that you bake on stoneware that heats for 30 minutes in the oven.

But when push comes to shove - The "cheap" breadpans probably would do me just fine... I'm just spoiled with the stoneware now. ;)

My mom has her "cheap" bread pans still that she had when I was little. They look HORRIBLE, but they're so *seasoned* I don't think she'd know how to make bread with anything else!!! ;)

Lena said...

Great! I'm going to twist my next batch!

QueenMeadow said...

I have one stoneware bread pan and 3 regular metal pans. I've only used the stoneware one twice so far, but I haven't noticed a difference at all. Maybe because its bigger than the other pans so I have to cook it differently?

I'm going to twist my bread next time too, so pretty! Maybe my kids will actually eat it :P

Amanda said...

Thank you for the very detailed and informative tutorial. It's just what I needed! I'll be "braiding" my next loaves!

Here's the cookie recipe. I can e-mail it to you if you prefer. Let me know. I was going to make them and take pictures and post the recipe on my blog, but I'm too tired/ lazy.

Valentine Cookies

Cream:
1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar

Add and beat:
4 eggs

Add:
5 cups whole wheat flour, sifted
2 cups white flour
8 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soda
1 cup sour milk (1 cup milk & 4 tsp vinegar)

Chill dough. Roll 1/4 inch thick and cut into shapes. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.