Upside of Deviation

I had intended today to be a day of knitting and much T.V. viewage. Instead it wound up being a day in the kitchen. There was however plenty of productivity. I baked another batch of apple dumplings, I baked chocolate chip, pecan cookies and then I baked up some pizza-esque flat breads. I also made up a batch of master dough for peasant bread which will be baked up tomorrow or Monday.

The rest of my evening will be spent watching Grindhouse, sipping Kool-aid and munching on parmesan topped popcorn.

Until tomorrow, I leave you with some "Cookie Porn".

A Losing Battle

My battle with Bread Making Disease has been lost, and I have wonderful, yummy flat bread to show for it. The battle was officially brought to its end yesterday afternoon, when the batch of No-Knead Pizza Dough was made. Later glorious handfuls of soft dough were formed into amoeba like flat breads, covered in various topping and baked to a delightful state of crispy, yet still soft.

Some were topped with just a drop of olive oil, a sprinkling of garlic and a dusting of grated parmesan. Another was topped with basil tomato sauce and sliced mushrooms, and the version pictured here was topped with PC Bacon & Roasted Onion dressing, slices of turkey breast, mushrooms and grape tomatoes, with a grating of Bothwell smoked 2 year old cheddar. They all tasted wonderful, and there is still dough in the fridge.

(I think it looks even tastier if you click on the picture.)

Maybe it's time I learned to co-exist with my Bread Making Disease, and just accept it as being a part of me instead of constantly battling against it.

New Unofficial Holiday

Here at Chez Moonlit Knit today was unofficially named as "Dumpling Day".

For supper, the girls made Gyoza. A Japanese version of pot stickers. Basically a dumpling, filled with a cabbage and pork mixture, that is fried and them steamed. They were very very tasty. They used an online recipe we had found, and made a delicious dipping sauce of soy sauce, lime juice and ginger. Meg took this picture and is very proud that she was able to capture the steam in the shot.



As my contribution to the meal I made Apple Dumplings, from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. They were absolutely wonderful, complete and true demon food. You know, the kind that calls to you, pummels your will power and makes you want to eat the whole pan. I reduced the butter to 3/4 of a cup, and the sugar to one cup. I definitely don't think that the finished product lacked for the alteration in any way. This recipe will surely be going into regular rotation.


For anyone keeping up on my battle with Bread Making Disease, I made it through one more day, unless you count dumplings as bread. Though I did buy a 10 kilogram bag of flour while grocery shopping today.

Dealing.

I managed through the day without baking any bread. I did however share some of the delicious brioche buns with my co-workers, and I ate one myself. I think it's a good sign that I was able to show this level of restraint. Tomorrow though, that's a whole 'nother day and I can already feel the symptoms of Bread Making Disease creeping up on me. All day, actually it began last night, I have been itching to try the No-Knead Pizza Dough. If I do succumb to this afflictiom of mine, I will be sure to take pictures.


On with today's list, a bit of a follow up to yesterday's entry.


Top 5 Ways to Deal with a Flour Shortage.


1. Stockpile as much flour as is humanly possible. This may involve replacing some furniture with Rubermaid totes filled with bags of flour. Oh well, the kid's mattresses probably are due to be replaced anyway.

2. Becoming close, personal friend's with a wheat farmer ... or two.

3. Finding alternatives to wheat flour. I know there are alternatives, I'm just unsure as to how they would bake up. Once wheat flour becomes more of a commodity, will alternate flours also become more costly and harder to obtain?

4. Selling off small amounts of stockpiled flour and or baked goodies at a large profit, in order to support my own habit.

5. Growing wheat in the back yard and teaching my children the value of hard work by having them mill the wheat into flour for their loving mother.



My mind is racing, I know there are many, many other ways to combat the horror of a possible flour shortage, however these are the top five so far. Suggestions are welcome. As an avid baker with fans to please and a very bad case of Bread Making Disease, flour is almost as important as breathing. I can't imagine not always having a big cannister of flour waiting for me in the kitchen.

Relapse.

There will be no list for today, as I have suffered a relapse of Bread Making Disease. This afternoon I decided to try out the Challah/Brioche master dough from Artisan Bread in Five, and this evening, unable to restrain myself, I baked the entire batch.

I believe my relapse was triggered by news of a possible flour shortage. I have to give thanks to my Foodie Girl, aka:Kelly, who has alerted me to this potential impending disaster. I have already begun researching methods of bulk flour storage that will not require taking over my Children's bedroom. Depending on the future outlook, I may even consider growing my own wheat in the back yard. I have to consider that there is more than just bread at stake here. This may well effect the future of cookies, cupcakes and muffins for which I also rely heavily on flour. For the love of all that's good, I even used flour in the chicken wings we had for dinner. Do I start stockpiling now, before prices begin to rise or do I live cavalierly, buy only as needed and risk being caught off guard and flourless. I'm only hoping that this relapse doesn't send me into a downward spiral of bread and goodie baking that I am unable to recover from.

I leave you with a photo of one of this evening's Brioche buns, which by the way were incredibly tasty and very addictive. I don't think I will be able to resist baking more of them for long.


Brioche bun, fresh from the oven dressed in a glossy coat of melted butter.

It May be Contagious

First off, let's pretend that it has not been almost two months since my last post. We (meaning me), are going to overlook that little detail and move ahead.

Anyone who knows me well, and probably a few who don't know me so well, know that I love to cook and bake as much as I love to knit. I often think this blog looks more like a cooking blog that a knitting one, but they're both a part of me.

Well...

I think I may have contracted a new addiction. Bread making. My Foodie Girl, aka: Kelly, and I discussed this book, a while back, then she went and bought it. She kindly shared her experiences and the recipe formula, and now I too have the "Bread Making Disease". Yeah, 'cause there weren't already enough carbs in my life. Although, in my own defense I have already shared my bread making results with my children, my friend Kim, neighbours, and several co workers, so at least I am not hording. The first batch of dough never even made it in to the fridge. The second managed a whole 12 hrs or so before being delved into to make a few cheesy, herby rolls.

I have had to slightly modify my cooking method from what the recipe suggests. I don't have a baking stone, so I have utilised the method from another no-knead bread. I place my Grandmother's cast iron dutch oven into the oven, and allow it to pre-heat. When the dough has rested and the oven is fully pre-heated I carefully plop the semi-shaped dough into the pot and place on the lid. I then let the bread bake and turn into a much desired orb of yummyness. Works pretty well, the crust is crispy, yet not to tough and the bread is light and moist without being either too dense or too wholey. I definitely think this will become a problem. Between, cookies, cupcakes, biscuits and now bread, I may need a part time job just to supplement the costs of baking supplies, not too mention the knitting supplies.

Speaking of knitting, it's been a little slow. I have been experiencing some hand an wrist troubles that occasionally get in the way, and I'm still busy playing with the new oven. I did however manage to finish a hat for little Charlie Girl, requested by her Mom. A Bumble Bee! I love the way it turned out. It is exactly as I imagined it, and it was very easy. A simple, striped , rolled brim hat with i-cord antennae.


One more thing, Kelly has coerced me into attempting to partake in National Blog Posting Month or NaBloPoMo as it is more commonly known. It is apparently going monthly. I will try. However, I don't always have access to the internet on weekends, so I can't make any promises.