How About Oats 'n Wheat Dinner Rolls?

Since my bread (posted below) didn't rise enough to make a delicious loaf, or a good looking photo, I decided to try nearly the same dough but make dinner rolls instead. And they turned out "Yummy!" Here's the photo...

And, here's the recipe!

Oats 'n Wheat Dinner Rolls

1 3/4 to 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I use unbleached)
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup sugar
1 5sp. salt
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 cup milk
3 Tblsp. butter
3/4 cup whole wheat flour

Topping:
1 egg white (I didn't use this)
1 Tblsp. water (I used this)
1 Tblsp. rolled oats (I used this)

In large bowl, combine 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/3 cup rolled oats, sugar, salt and yeast; blend well. In small saucepan, heat milk and margarine until very warm (120 to 130 degrees F.). Add warm liquid and egg to flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 2 minutes at medium speed (yes, I used a mixer). By hand, stir in whole wheat flour and an additional 1/2 to 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour until dough pulls cleanly away from sides of bowl.

On floured surface, knead in 1/4 to 1/2 (I even used a bit more) all-purpose flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place dough in greased bowl; cover loosely with plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in warm place (80 to 85 degrees F) until light and doubled in size, about 1 hour. (I heat the oven at its lowest setting for just a tiny bit, to make it warm, and shut it off. I also take a big bowl of hot water and place it in the oven as well.)

Grease 9-inch square pan liberally. Punch down dough several times to remove all air bubbles. Divide dough into 16 pieces; shape into balls. Place in greased pan. Cover; let rise in warm place until light and doubled in size, about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven. (I placed a wire cookie rack over my hot bowl of water and place the rolls on the rack over the water with a towel keeping in the warmth while the oven heats.)

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Uncover dough. In small bowl, combine egg white and water; beat slightly. Carefully brushh over rolls; sprinkle with 1 Tblsp rolled oats. (I only brushed with water and sprinkled oats.) Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from pan. Make sure you've greased the pan liberally! Serve Warm. Yum!

Retreat Quilt

I posted photos of this nearly-finished quilt for Garden Blogger's Muse Day, January 1. Elizabeth Joy was interested in a copy of the pattern. So, I hope this works. I scanned it as a photo and have uploaded it here. :-)

The owner of our local quilt store has organized a quilting retreat in the Spring and Fall at a nearby campground with a central dining hall and several cabins. Attendees arrive after lunch on Saturday, quilt all day, enjoy an evening meal, quilt a little more, snooze in a cabin, and quilt on Sunday morning. We enjoy a breakfast and head home at lunch-time.

This was the pattern that was offered at the first retreat, May 2006.



It's easy, fun to do, and looks great! ;-)

Hopefully this will be a good memory

Baking Bread today. Haven't done that for a long time. I like rolling it around on the counter, kneading it until it's smooth and "elastic." Here's a photo of the dough before it was put aside to rise.

Toasted Oat Bread

5 1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour (total)
1 cup rolled oats, toasted*
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 pkg. active dry yeast
2 cups milk
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1 egg

Topping
1 tablsp. water
1 egg white
1 tablsp. rolled oats

In large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, 1 cup rolled oats, sugar, salt and yeast; blend well. In small saucepan, heat milk and margarine until very warm (120 to 130 degrees F). Add warm liquid and egg to flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 3 minutes at medium speed. By hand, stir in an additional 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups flour until dough pulls cleanly away from sides of bowl.

On floured surface, knead in 1/4 to 1/2 cup flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place dough in greased bowl; cover loosely with plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in warm place (80 to 85 degrees F) until light and doubled in size, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Grease two 8x4 or 9x5-inch loaf pans. Punch down dough several times to remove all air bubbles. Divide dough into 2 parts; shape into loaves. Place in greased pans. Cover; let rise in warm place until dough fills pans and tops of loaves are about 1 inch above pan edges, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Uncover dough. In small bowl, combine water and egg white; beat slightly. Carefully brush on loaves; sprinkle with 1 tablesp. rolled oats.

If this turns out, I'll post a picture!* ;-)

*Oh, oh. No picture... must mean the bread wasn't photo-worthy. (Well, it wasn't. It didn't rise very well the second time. It may be due to the fact that I substituted 1 cup of whole wheat flour for the white. Today is another "enforced stay-at-home day," so I'm going to try again.)

Monday, January 14, 2008

It was the night before I was to leave my parents' home in Clear Lake. My sister-in-law was dropped off with her three grandchildren while their mom and her sister (my nieces) did a little shopping.

We were delighted to spend time with Landon and his little twin siblings:

Landon and his Grandma

Landon and his Mommy

Conner

Kennedy

Here's a video of Landon and Grandma

A Rockin' Good Time!

You never know what will unfold at a family gathering at Christmas-time! In this case, the two adults in the rocking chairs are holding twins. One boy and one girl born a couple of months ago. However, neither of these adults are the parents! But aren't they doing a fine job of baby-tending? :-) Way to go, Scott and Darby!

Good conversation and good memories often start and end with Good Food! :-)

And the other thing that brings about excitement is the opening of presents!
Here's Mommy (of the twins) and her 2 1/2 old!

Mom helps our 2 1/2 year old open his gift... and here's the proud Dad!!! ;-)

Christmas Family Activities

Living out the saying:

"Christmas is for the Birds..." only in the strictest sense!

Here we are (L and "me"), mixing birdseed.

We're standing on a stepladder, filling the birdfeeder with our mix.

The birds will be happy... in the morning!

Speaking of feeding the birds... we're all in the act! Even the two year olds!

M holds a finished project: A tongue depressor coated with thinned peanut butter and dipped in bird seed mix.
The next step is to hang them outdoors.We're almost ready to head outdoors! :-)
The process of hanging them. Daughter C with niece I.Are we done, yet? Son-in-law K with daughter A)

Ta-dah!The birds are enjoying our treat again today. Perhaps you'll see a couple if you click on the snowy picture.
The T girls with Grandpa and Dad "on the farm."
Girls and Grandpa
Grandpa's collection of deer antlers."Size chart."

The Making of Christmas Memories

Some little friends of mine (and a mom) were here on Thursday, Dec. 20. I'd made a batch of sugar cookie dough. We "each" rolled some dough and cut out one large cookie and one star. Here are pictures of the cookie painting. Egg yolk paint is made with an egg yolk (in this case, we used two). Dividing the yolk between dishes, put 4 - 5 drops of food coloring in each dish and mix well). Use small paint brushes to paint the cookies before baking.





I'm sorry we didn't get an "after photo." They turned out great, though!