We heart snow.

You're sick of hearing about it, I know. You're sick of shoveling it, tired of it messin' with your plans or robbing you of your heat and electricity. I'm sorry you had to deal with that. We were lucky to have all of our amenities, but not everyone on our street had that experience. There were so many acts of kindness swirling around us that it was impossible not to be warmed by it all. I love our little street so much.

Our fuel today for shoveling and playing: my new favorite go to soft and hearty bread. WHO Bread (Wheat. Honey. Oats). Oh. You're sick of hearing about bread, too?

WHO Bread
adapted from SouleMama, Amanda Soule

The original recipe on her site is for a bread machine, but she also had the "acoustic" recipe listed as well, as linked above. I found it lacked the much important kneading step though and a few other details that I knew because I've made bread before. Even though I love, love, love cinnamon, I left it out of my loaves because 1) I wanted it for sandwiches and 2) someone else in this family isn't a cinnamon freak like I am.

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (this is the equivalent of one packet)
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 TBSP honey
1 TBSP brown sugar
2 TBSP room temperature butter
1 tsp salt
3 cups flour (just like SouleMama, I did 2 cups white flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon (as noted, I omitted this)

In mixing bowl, add warm water, honey and sugar and stir to combine. Allow this to sit 10-15 minutes until the mixture is frothy.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, oats, salt, cinnamon (if using) and butter. Add this mixture to the yeast and mix on low speed (or by hand) until thoroughly combined. Knead dough for 6-8 minutes if you are using a stand mixer or until smooth if you are kneading this by hand. Dough will be slightly tacky, but not sticky.

Allow dough to rise until doubled in a oiled bowl (I just use the mixer bowl), covered with plastic wrap or a damp towel, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Her recipe has you do this in the loaf pan, but I did it my way. Once risen, punch dough down and put dough in an oiled loaf pan, covered loosely with plastic wrap or damp towel, letting it rise for a second time, about 45 minutes to 1 hour (or until loaf has risen at least an inch above the lip of the loaf pan).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove plastic wrap or towel from the loaf pan and place pan in the center of your oven. Bake 25 minutes.

Remove from pan to cool.

Eat with butter and jam. Dodge snowballs thrown by impish toddler.

Adventures in bread baking.

I've mentioned a time or two that I've been trying my hand at homemade bread. I think I'm getting kind of addicted to the science experiment that the process really is. I've had pretty good results each time but perfection still eluded me. It turns out, practice does make perfect! It's so very satisfying and the smell in the house is positively intoxicating I tell you!

So, here are some things I've learned along the way:

1) Just because the recipe says you need a certain amount of flour doesn't mean you won't need more. Lots of things can affect how much flour your recipe will need, namely the humidity. If your dough is sticky before it's time to knead the dough, you need more flour. Add it in small increments and let it incorporate before you add more.

2) You may be under-kneading your dough. I think this was my main problem. Your arms should probably feel tired and you should be kneading it by hand for about 10 minutes or so. If you are using a dough hook on a stand mixer, you'll probably need to let it go for 6-8 minutes.

3) You might need to increase the speed of your mixer while kneading the dough. I found I was always erring on the side of low speed and finally heeded a recipe's instruction (imagine that, a recipe might know best!) and increased the speed to medium. It made a world of difference.

4) Baking time isn't always the best indicator that your bread is done. You might need to take your bread's temperature! Who knew? If your bread's internal temperature is 190-200 degrees, you are good to go.

5) If your bread isn't slicing nicely and is clumping together when putting the knife through it, you probably need to let it cool more! You don't want to hear this, I know, it's nearly impossible to let the bread cool. Just see my picture below, I couldn't wait but a little over an hour and my slicing results weren't great. For the rest of the loaf, I waited another hour and it looked great and was easy to slice.

But who doesn't want warm bread? If your aim is to have nice slices for sandwiches though, you're going to have to have some patience. It can take two hours, sometimes three for your loaf to cool entirely. You'll be surprised how much easier it is to slice. Trust me.

Now I'm not suggesting you don't hack off an end immediately to eat, I'm just saying if you have other purposes for this bread in mind, patience will pay off.

I heeded all of these points and had the most successful loaf to date.

I hope you get brave and experiment too. Be warned, your family may start rejecting store bought bread. There have been a few notes in The Boss's lunch box saying "she said she doesn't like this bread" on days I used some other kind of bread. I can't blame her one bit.

This recipe made a really nice sandwich bread with a relatively thin crust. Sometimes homemade bread has a really thick crust that kids (and some adults) are not to fond of. While I'm the type that likes as many grains you can pack into a bread, a few others in the house like a less hearty approach. This one kept everyone in this house happy, and naturally, that's my goal!
Light Wheat Bread

The Bread Bakers Apprentice ( a book referenced by one of many online cooking blogs I frequent)

Makes one two-pound loaf

2 1/2 cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour (I just used all purpose flour)
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar or honey
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons powdered milk
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons shortening or unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups water, at room temperature

Stir together the high-gluten flour, whole-wheat flour, sugar (if using), salt, powdered milk, and yeast in a 4-quart mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). Add the shortening, honey if you are using it, and water. Mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until the ingredients form a ball. If there is still flour in the bottom of the bowl, dribble in additional water. The dough should feel soft and supple.

Sprinkle high-gluten or whole-wheat flour on the counter, and transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading or you can mix it on medium speed with the dough hook. Add more flour if needed to make a firm, supple dough that is slightly tacky but not sticky. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

Ferment at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.

Remove the dough from the bowl and press it by hand into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick, 6 inches wide, and 8 to 10 inches long. Form it into a loaf by working from the short side of the dough, rolling up the length of the dough one section at a time, pinching the crease with each rotation to strengthen the surface tension. Pinch the final seam closed with the back edge of your hand or with your thumbs. Place the loaf in a lightly oiled 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch bread pan; the ends of the loaf should touch the ends of the pan to ensure an even rise. Mist the top with spray oil (I just brushed mine with some soft butter) and loosely cover with plastic wrap.

Proof at room temperature for approximately 90 minutes (mine was risen in 60 minutes so definitely check it after 60 minutes).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the oven rack on the middle shelf.

Place the bread pan on a sheet pan and bake for 30 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking and continue baking for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the oven. The finished loaf should register 190 degrees in the center, be golden brown on the top and the sides, and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

When the bread is finished baking, remove it immediately from the loaf pan and cool it on a rack for at least 1 hour, preferably 2 hours before slicing or serving.

Holiday home stretch.

I have my sous chef by my side baking up the last batch of cookies today with no less than 3 pounds of sprinkles. Apparently, when you're nearly 3 years old, you like very little cookie with your cookie adornments. I guess she has years and years ahead of her to be understated...or not. Hey! Look! Her hair is finally long enough for braids and she let me do it! I can conquer anything now. Seriously.
But I digress. Just got a little excited there.

Something else we'll prepare for our Christmas Eve dinner is the dough for feather yeast rolls. I made these the first Thanksgiving we ever hosted in our home and had amazing results. "You made your own crescent rolls?!" is what I heard over and over as people popped pillowy, buttery rolls into their mouths. Why yes, yes I did.

If you have some extra time today (ha!), throw this dough together as you can put it in the fridge overnight. The recipe source claims these are "so good they inspired a marriage proposal." While I'm not in the business of seeking that sort of thing these days, I'll gladly accept the praise that comes along with their buttery goodness!

Feather Yeast Rolls
Three Rivers Renaissance Cookbook IV
Suzanne Martinson

1 pkg active dry yeast, dissolved in 1 TBSP warm water (105-115 degrees)
1 1/2 cups scalded milk, cooled
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
2 well beaten eggs
5 cups flour
additional 1/2 cup melted butter for brushing dough

Mix all ingredients, except flour, with an electric mixer. Stir in flour all at once. Cover and refrigerate 3-4 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut dough into quarters. Working with one quarter of the dough, roll into a circle. Brush with melted butter. Cut circle into 8 pie-shaped wedges.

Roll each wedge up from wide to narrow end, tucking under tip; shape into crescent. Place on a nonstick or buttered baking sheet (parchment works wonders here). Brush crescents generously with butter. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Let rise 2 hours, or until double in size. Bake for 12 minutes.

Serve immediately.

Experience buttered carbohydrate comfort and joy... and peace on earth (or the dinner table) if but for a second.

Play dough.

I cannot begin to tell you how much I love the fact that The Boss is a ready and willing helper when it comes to measuring and dumping and stirring whatever it is I'm baking or cooking these days. She used to run when the Kitchen Aid was on, but she's made her peace. No doubt she can figure out good things come from it! She requests space on the counter so that she has the best view and doesn't miss a step. We're a good team.

I've been trying a variety of bread recipes in an effort to be a better bread baker and learn how certain ingredients will affect the texture. I'm getting better with practice and it makes me appreciate the fact that people once baked their own bread every day.

I find bread is a fun thing to do with kids. Sure there is a lot of waiting around time, but their attention is so easily diverted anyway. The kids sure do love punching the dough down after the first rise. Fun! The Boss and her buddy helped me out with this batch--I'm not sure if they liked punching the dough down or swiping finger licks of the cinnamon sugar mix better.

The bread was good warm on the first day and made great toast (and probably would make great french toast) the next day. You'll see my version didn't have raisins because we simply didn't have any. Unconscionable in a toddler household!Brown Sugar Raisin Bread
Williams Sonoma

1 TBSP active dry yeast
3 TBSP granulated sugar
1 1⁄4 cups warm water (105° to 115°F)
1 cup warm milk (105° to 115°F)
3 TBSP unsalted butter, melted
1 TBSP salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
6 to 6 1⁄4 cups bread flour, plus more as needed
3⁄4 cup golden raisins
3⁄4 cup dark raisins

Filling:
2⁄3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
mixed with 4 1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon

In a bowl, sprinkle the yeast and a pinch of the granulated sugar over 1⁄2 cup of the water and stir to dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, combine the remaining 3/4 cup water, the milk, butter, the remaining granulated sugar, salt, egg and 2 cups of the flour. Beat on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the yeast mixture and 1⁄2 cup of the flour and beat for 1 minute. Add the raisins, then beat in the remaining flour, 1⁄2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Switch to the dough hook. Knead on medium-low speed, adding flour 1 TBSP at a time if the dough sticks, until smooth and elastic, about 4 minutes. My dough took another 1/2 cup of flour, so don't be surprised if you need a lot more. Transfer the dough to a greased deep bowl and turn to coat it. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1⁄2 hours.

Lightly grease two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Divide the dough in half and roll or pat each half into an 8-by-12-inch rectangle. Lightly sprinkle each rectangle with half of the filling, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Beginning at a narrow end, tightly roll up each rectangle into a compact log. Pinch the ends and the long seam to seal in the filling. Place each log, seam side down, in a prepared pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until the dough is about 1 inch above the rim of each pan, 1 to 1 1⁄2 hours.

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Bake until the loaves are golden brown and pull away from the sides of the pan, 35 to 40 minutes. Turn the loaves out onto wire racks and let cool completely.

Makes two 9-by-5-inch loaves.

Notes from the weekend.

Some thoughts floating around the (big)noggin' this weekend....

*I have a doctor appointment on Monday. I almost feel like going in and saying "I have an almost two year old, what can you give me?" I'm kidding of course. Kind of.

Really, with each age, life gets easier and then harder, but in different ways. Just like when we freaked that she was no longer just a stationary baby on the floor, we now realize she's just tall enough to grab all the things we thought were out of her reach. Also, The Boss does.not.stop.talking. I mostly love it, unless the question "What are you doing, Mom?" passes her lips more than ten times in less than ten minutes. But the singing! Oh the singing is the most adorable thing ever. I couldn't possibly adore her more than I do.

*I'm really into baking bread these days. Every time I make bread I wonder why I don't do it more often. It's so little effort. Of course you need time, but there's a lot downtime in making bread which makes it a great weekend thing to do. This weekend I made chubble (cheddar bubble bread) based on this recipe.
I used extra sharp white cheddar in mine. I find the older I get, the sharper I like my cheese. I made two batches and one of them I used smoked gouda, a favorite of Hank. Notice I never get any after shots of bread. They are torn into too quickly.

*I am ridiculously excited to have a sewing machine now! I forgot to mention that in addition of knitting for myself, I want to get into this again. I was in my teens when I last sat at a sewing machine. I received a hand-me-down and I am chomping at the bit to get started. I am trying to make space in the spare bedroom for some work space. Unfortunately, not only do I want to sew, I've recently gotten the bug to do some needlework (the first craft my grandmother taught me), too. I'd like to do a few projects to help decorate the house--make it a little more warm and cozy. Our lack of decorating is really a product of laziness and is admittedly a little too heavy on toddler accessories.

*I started knitting a hat for myself and fortunately, before I got too far into it, I realized it would probably be too small for me so I'm starting over and making a few adjustments. I finally measured my head and compared it to other hat sizings. As I've suspected for years, my head is a wee bit bigger than the average woman's head. No mass produced headgear for this lady!

*I am increasingly annoyed by these pro high fructose corn syrup commercials. Have you seen them? They drive me bonkers.

*As a mother of a toddler, I feel like we waste more food than ever. What is a favorite for one or two days, doesn't mean it will be a favorite next week when I buy the same stuff to make. So frustrating! Granted, I think The Boss is still a relatively good eater, but I miss the baby who at her plain, steamed veggies with abandon. Now, I resort to a new low, cheese sauce. At least it's real cheese though! And soup, she's a soup nut, so you can bet I chock it full of everything. The other thing I find myself doing is going to greater lengths for her to eat things. For instance, if I give her regular ole orange segments, she'll just suck take small bite and try to suck the juice out, but the one day I decided to see if the results were any different if I sectioned an orange like they do in fancy salads. Naturally, she ate the whole thing. Well, of course she did.

*And on the subject of food, I'm making a better effort to compost even during the winter when it's the utmost pain in the patootie to do so. I think my compost bin needs a little catalyst to get it started again. I noticed at the end of the summer/fall, it really hadn't done much which means the ratios of greens and browns are probably off. I received a handy dandy counter compost keeper for Christmas which will make it a little easier (aka less stinky since it has a charcoal filter) in case I don't make a daily trek out in the winter.

A cohesive post and hopefully a finished project by next time. Have a great week, friends!

Go get yourself some yeast to make these rolls. Just don't buy it at Costco.

It took me a long time before I ventured into using yeast in any of my baking. Then I met my friend Nikki. She made wonderful bread and rolls and I couldn't get over how little effort (although not so easy in terms of time involved) it took to make such things. Even after watching her do it, I still dragged my heels and continued to buy my bread, pizza, and rolls, and whatever else made my life easier because damnit, I was a busy lady. Then my in laws bought me a bread machine for Christmas a little over a year ago. I became less fearful of yeast because I could dump it and forget it! Well, now that I am a woman of leisure (cough, cough), I guess I have time to let the dough rise without the help of the machine (and who has space for these things anyway?) and my oh my, does the house smell good when bread is baking.

Today I am making sweet orange cinnamon rolls in preparation for our Easter feast. Of course I was dumb enough to start the recipe at the tail end of an unusual morning nap for The Boss (she's still suffering a bit from CBD) so naturally, she woke up just as I needed to mix the yeast mixture with everything else. I whisked her to the kitchen before she had a chance to let her eyes adjust to the light, put a sauce pot, a few spoons, and spatulas on the floor and instructed her to "cook like Mama". In a flurry of activity, I managed to get the dough in the bowl to rise without a baby on my hip. We then banged up the pot with a few spoons in celebration of this feat.

Then we sat around watching Oprah and eating bon bons for two hours while the dough doubled in size and the house cleaning fairies took over for me. I told you, I am a woman of leisure!

A note about yeast: Just buy those pre-packaged envelopes for ease of use unless you plan on making bread all the time. Soon after I received a bread machine, my dear husband went on a little jaunt to Costco (we are notorious Costco whores if there is such a term). He was enjoying those fresh baked loaves and knew I needed yeast to make them. So he was kind and thoughtful and brought me home a present.Thanks, honey, just what I always wanted! Two pounds of yeast! While this was very cost effective, I now have to store two pounds of yeast in the fridge because once opened, it should be kept refrigerated. Since most recipes I make only call for 2 1/4 tsp of yeast at a time, I'm pretty well set until The Boss goes to college and I make "I survived 18 years of parenthood" rolls. Until then, we'll eat these. By the way, these aren't overly sweet so they are still a good accompaniment to a savory meal, but I suspect also good for breakfast!

Orange Cinnamon Sweet Rolls
recipe source: Gourmet by way of epicurious.com
my additions are in italics
***these are best eaten the day they are made.

3 tablespoons warm water (105-115°F) plus 2 teaspoons water at room temperature
1 (1/4-oz) package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
5 to 5 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup warm milk (105-115°F)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bowl
4 large eggs at room temperature 30 minutes, or submerged in a bowl of warm water (105°F) 5 minutes
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup dried, sweetened cranberries

Stir together warm water, yeast, and 1 teaspoon sugar in bowl of mixer fitted with paddle attachment and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)

While yeast is foaming, whisk 4 cups flour with zest, salt, and cinnamon (and the dried fruit if using) in a bowl.

Add milk, vanilla, butter, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar to yeast, then mix at medium speed until combined. Beat in 3 eggs, 1 at a time, then add orange cinnamon flour and mix until combined well.

Replace paddle attachment with dough hook attachment and mix at medium-low speed, adding more flour (1 to 1 1/2 cups), 1/4 cup at a time, until a smooth but slightly sticky dough forms, about 5 minutes. Transfer dough to a work surface and knead by hand until smooth and elastic (dough will remain slightly sticky), about 3 minutes. Form dough into a ball and transfer to a large buttered bowl, turning dough to coat with butter.

Cover bowl with kitchen towel and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Line a 17- by 14-inch baking sheet with parchment paper.

Turn out dough onto work surface and knead several times to remove air. Cut dough into 12 equal pieces (I made smaller rolls and cut 16 pieces). Cup your hand over 1 piece and, using your thumb and pinkie to keep ball inside your cupped hand, push dough with heel of your hand against work surface while rolling in a circular motion (clockwise or counterclockwise) to form a smooth ball. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough, arranging balls 1 inch apart on baking sheet.

Cover loosely with kitchen towel and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.

Whisk together remaining egg with remaining 2 teaspoons water in a small bowl. Cut a 1-inch X (1/4 inch deep) in top of each roll with kitchen shears. Brush rolls lightly with egg wash and bake until golden and rolls sound hollow when tapped on bottom, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer rolls to a rack and cool, at least 15 minutes.