Grandmother Breadsticks

Note: I noticed today, that some of my pictures were a little mixed up on a couple posts. The worst one I found also happens to be one that I reference and link people to often, Grandmother Bread. 


None of the pictures were where they belonged, and I think I messed something up with computer albums and Picasa. Unfortunately, they are also somehow missing from my camera - I've deleted the pictures on that post until they can be properly replaced. So if you happen to notice anything else askew in the pictures, please drop me a line. You can find my e-mail under the contact me tab at the top of the page. Thanks!



I've been making these breadsticks for about 3 weeks now, and they are sooooo delicious. My youngest devours them!

I use the grandmother bread recipe to make our pizza dough each week. The recipe equals enough for two fluffy doughs and a batch of bread sticks (if you want thinner pizza dough you could easily get three dough rounds and two batches of bread sticks)



After the first rise of the dough, I punch it down and cut of a bit for the breadsticks. I divide the rest in two for my pizza. The bread sticks I just round (slightly flattened) and let go through the second rise (about an hour) I flatten the top again slightly and use a bread knife to cut about 8 pieces. 


Then, I just pour a little melted garlic and butter over the top, sprinkle some Parmesan cheese and cook at 450 for about 7-8 minutes. So simple, so delicious!

 

What's with Today, Today?

I think I need to watch Empire Records again soon it's been on my mind. (the title posts).

I did end up deleting my profile from the online communities that I mentioned the other day. It's kind of bittersweet. In many ways, I'm glad I did. It's freeing. It's relieving. It's just a really nice feeling to have it gone. In other ways, it's sad. That community has been a huge, huge part of my life for most of my twenties. It's where I went for support. It's where I turned to share good news. It's a very, very strange feeling to not have that anymore.

I was antsy this morning. I think partly because of some of my thoughts still lingering on everything around my decision to leave that community. And I think partly because I've just been doing a lot of nothing lately. A lot of sitting.

So even though I felt like doing nothing but sitting on the couch and catching up on a favorite TV series we picked up on DVD the other day, I got up and got moving. Made some Grandmother Bread again.


While that was rising I sewed up some bread bags really quickly. I have some great ideas to make some nicer bread bags and some more grain/produce bags but I just whipped these out really fast.

I also made a couple new curtains just using some fabric from my stash. I've been having a lot of fun changing out the kitchen curtains every few months.

 

While the bread was on it's second rise, The Husband and I hiked the hill behind our house. The weather was really beautiful today and felt more like March or April than January.

I am so out of shape. It's maybe a 3 mile hike up to the top. It's pretty steep and I was having a hard time with it. Not so much my body, my lungs. I had the same problem running this past summer. 15 years of smoking, I suppose. It's been a year since I quit, though I have had a couple here and there. I need to build up my lungs though, I really want to run again.

This was the first time we made it to the top of the hill, we found a neat stream and a pond at the very top. It felt so, so good just to get outside and get moving for a little while.

 

It was just what I needed.

Grandmother Bread

 Edit: I recently realized that the wrong pictures were on this post. I can no longer locate the correct pictures. They seem to have disappeared from my computer and from Picasa and my blogger account. In the meantime, I've taken down the wrong pictures, and will hopefully be able to put the right ones back up soon. If you happen to notice any other posts askew, please contact me. My e-mail address is located under the where you may find me tab at the top of the page. Thanks!

For years I tried to make homemade bread. I tried and tried and tried. And it never worked. My loaves always came out flat and heavy. After about 3 years I caved and got a bread machine. I used that until last year, when I came across the 5 minute bread. I haven't used my bread machine since.

The 5 minute bread was great for dinner loafs and for pizza crust. It was not so great for sandwich loaves, and just ok for cinnamon rolls and things. And, the fact that I still hadn't successfully made a kneaded loaf really nagged at me.

For a while I've been reading Chickens in the Road. Suzanne has a post on Grandmother Bread, and I've been eying it and shying away from it for months now. After all, I can't make yeast/kneaded bread. I just can't. I've tried and tried and tried.

Well, I tried one more time. The other day I mixed up my weekly batch of 5 minute bread - and decided to go ahead and give Grandmother Bread a try.

The recipe is very similar to the 5 minute bread recipe. It didn't look scary.

So, I started. I kneaded it (the best I know how)

I left it to rise (in my pretty cold kitchen)

Punched it down, kneaded it again, and set it to rise in the pans (a little unevenly, dough wise - oops!)

And baked it.

And waited.

And peeked through the window.

And

ta-da!

(ok, the pictures a little blurry - I think I had olive oil on the camera lense!)

YAY!

Ok, so not quite perfect. But the best I've ever made!

And, the best part is, it's good! Like really, really good! And easy! It's a little bit denser than store bought, but I think that's my kneading, which will get better with time.

My family is pretty picky about their bread. I love whole grain breads, they don't. And even though I can often find sandwich bread without HFCS, there's still always a long list of ingredients. I can't pretend this bread is full of healthy stuff - it's white bread after all. But it's homemade. And to me, that's pretty exciting!

I have the smaller loaf in the freezer as an experiment to see how well it freezes. I know, the point of homemade bread is to have it fresh - but I work some long hours, so if I can have fresh and frozen I'll be super happy.

So seriously, if you've ever had problems with homemade bread like I have - give this recipe a try. It's so easy and so wonderful.

Baking Bread

So, for several months now I've been using the 5 minute bread recipe published in the October issue of Mother Earth News

I've made the basic bread a lot.

And pizza dough every friday for dinner:




I got the cookbook about a month ago, but until this past weekend hadn't actually tried any of the other recipes.


I finally got around to trying the soft white bread recipe (the kids and husband resist the wheat stuff. Me - I love whole grains - the nuttier and chewier the better. Them? Wonder Bread Please) I've been buying whole grain white, but I would still love to perfect a sandwich loaf at home.

This isn't quite it. But it's close. It's a little heavier than a store loaf - and mine didn't rise quite as high. But the flavor is good. The 10 year old liked it. At the very least it would make a great bread for grilled cheese and french toast.


You don't knead. At all. Just mix it all up - work the flour in, but don't knead!


Cover, but not airtight - and let sit at room temp for 2 hours (I've also put it right in the fridge and it's been just fine


After about 2 hours it will look sort of like this.

Then you're ready to use it if you want - or put it in the fridge. The dough is easier to work with if it's cold.

I think maybe part of the reason the bread didn't rise exactly right is because I didn't follow the next step. I'm so used to making round bread and pizza, I left it to rise like that -instead of in the bread pan.



Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes


You can see how they aren't quite high and fluffy



I'm definitely going to give this recipe a few more tries. I think it has some real potential

The authors also include many recipes on their website: artisan bread in five


Now, I'm off to make some lovely bread bags like over at SouleMama (I reference her a lot, I know!)