White Bread (Don't get greedy)

  I'm out of white bread and  Tom just went to the grocery yesterday. So what do I do? Make my own. Trouble is, I got greedy,

 I used the Betty Crocker recipe that I've used plenty of times in the past. So I know it's  a good one (here). The end result was tasty though it lacked the usual loft, What did I do wrong?

 First of all, I was a bit worried about the yeast I was using. It was given to me about a year and a half ago and I've kept it in an airtight container and frozen. And I've been using it, of course. I proofed it to make sure it was good and the milk/sugar moisture soon began to foam.

 OK, no problem there.

 And actually the finished loaves don't look too bad. They just deflated their tops a bit during baking.

 But when I mixed the dough and set it to rise the first time I found that it had certainly tripled in the time allotted (1.5 hours). Beautiful! This stuff is going to the moon.

 Well, no.

 So I knocked it down, divided it into two pan and let it rise again. Still GREAT!

 But that was the problem. I let the doughs "overdevelop". I was too anxious for a big rise and when I set it to bake,  the top began collapsing. Both loaves looked like a balloon that had the air left out of it. And that's exactly what happened.

 I allowed the second rise to run another hour and a half. I should have stopped at 45 minutes (as the recipe states) and allowed the rise to continue a bit while the baking got underway. The dough didn't have the structure necessary to hold it's head high.

This is what I ended up with:

 The tops had completely collapsed upon themselves and the bread became a bit more dense than I'd have liked. But they smell great and taste wonderful. So it was salvaged in the end. But the bread was also not what it could have been.

 Note to self: don't get greedy in  the kitchen.  Enough is always enough.

Apple Dumplings

  I've been hungry for homemade apple dumplings for a while. So when Tom went to the grocery the other day I had him buy a bag of apples. He came home with one called Pink Lady, one I wasn't familiar with.

 They're considered high sugar, high  acid and crisp. This bag was from Bauman Orchards, Inc. in Rittman, Ohio. That's just  west of Akron.

 So, which recipe to use? Because I had a package of ready-made puff pastry dough, all I had to make was the sauce. And Tom bought Wewalka Puff Pastry once before  and used it in a recipe and was very happy with it. We picked up another package when we were at Meijer.

 Pre-made dough is not something I've used before. Some recipes call for crescent roll dough in a tube but that's hardly what I needed. The Wewalka puff pastry dough comes in a single 9x14" sheet rolled inside of parchment paper and can be cut to any size. It's made in Hungary and found in the refrigerator section.

 The only problem is getting enough dough to cover six decent-sized apples. I'll save you the trouble: it won't. Not quite. But that doesn't matter to me. The layering of the finished dough is actually much nicer than the dough I made myself.

 So I cored six apples and pared them.

 I filled the open core with a mixture of granulated sugar (about 1/2 cup) and a teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

 I baked them for a little over 40 minutes at 375° in a bath of syrup (see below).

 They came out beautifully and without all the usual work of making my own dough.

Syrup:

2 cups brown sugar
2 cups water
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cook the mixture 10 minutes or so until the sugar is completely incorporated. I poured it onto the apples while almost boiling hot.

* Note: After eating a couple of dumplings I think this sauce makes too much and is too watery. The next time I make it I'm going to cut the water in half.

Dessert is taken care of for three days.

Beer Bread

  I make the same mistake every day. After Tom and I watch an episode of Shameless on Netflix, I give myself an hour to watch a cooking show. Unusually I try Create, a PBS channel to which I've become attached. In the past week I watched a quick recipe for beer bread and thought I'd have to try it.

 I forget who the baker was - but it doesn't matter. Most of the recipes are ultra-simple with just a handful of ingredients. But, for future reference, I started with a popular Food.com recipe. Click here for that recipe.

 The resultant loaf is a bit dense but then it owes  any loft to the foam the beer provides and the ample application of baking powder. It isn't a yeast bread, isn't even close. It's even got a little bit of a crunch on the top and bottom due to the hour-long baking time.

 And while you wouldn't expect the recipe could be simplified - it has only six ingredients - I chose to melt the butter and add everything except the flour (beer last) while I was thoroughly mixing it. Then, when the liquid is properly mixed, add the flour. This is what you'll get:

 I had a friend tell me "that looks awful!". Well, it looks like dough to me.

 The sticky dough is pressed down to a standard loaf pan that has been lightly greased. I used an olive oil spray.

 The hour baking time at 375° was just right.

 Here's the loaf removed from the pan after about half an hour's cooling time.

 The loaf is certainly not light like a yeast bread but then it isn't meant to be. It's just a bread you can make quickly with a minimum of ingredients and work. Since there's no kneading, no rising and resting, no knocking down and rising again, it's about as easy as a bread can be.

  I tried a piece after it cooled and added a light coating of butter. It was delicious. This morning I made both Tom and I a slice but do not consider it a good choice for breakfast. Though the beer flavor is subtle, it doesn't seem best suited to early in the day. I'd like it best with soup or as  a lunch or dinner add-on. And I don't think it would be good for sandwiches. This is a stand-alone item.

Bob Visits Bear Lake

  On Sunday (01/02) Bob  and Larry Sabin set out for a quick trip to Bear Lake, Michigan, the home of our warmest childhood memories. He's coming home on Wednesday (01/05) so the trip was a bit of a whirlwind.

 But winter trips to the north come with the risk of slippery weather and this one was no different. In fact they're leaving in  advance of a winter storm that could drop over half a foot of snow in Bear Lake.

 In the meantime they've had a chance to visit the old haunts and have some good meals.

 Here then are the photos from the trip ...

 Formerly the Bella Vista Inn, the motel (12273 West Street) is under new management and with a new name. Tom  and I have stayed there and love the handy location.

 Bear Lake was solidly frozen and Bob  said ice shanties dot the lake. They were hesitant to walk on it but clearly the tracks show it was safe for some weight.

  A Lake Michigan view near Pierport, just a few miles west of Bear Lake.

 This is a view (above) of our former cottage. It's located within the Dayton Bear Lake Outing Club.

 And here's a closer view ...

 Inspiration Point just north of Arcadia, Michigan on M-22 is a popular turnout.

 Another view of Inspiration Point ...

 The Frankfort North Pier Lighthouse ...

 Bear Lake again from near town.

 At the Big Bay, Bob  and Larry spotted  these tracks in the snow. Fox?

 And now a quick tour of the Dayton Bear Lake Outing Club ...

 My grandfather, Elwood Schmidt, constructed a martin house in the late 1960's (he died in 1970) and it was placed on this post near the lake. This plaque was installed in his honor.

 Some closer views of our former cottage. This is a rear view. It has been greatly expanded since we sold it (1970's?) and also updated.

 Behind the garage ...

 Two more views of our former cottage (above and below)

 On 01/05/22 the guys are returning home and trying to stay in front of s snowstorm arriving from the west. Bear Lake is under a Winter Storm Warning with up to 7" of snow expected today. Bob said when they left (about 6 AM) they already had 4" on the ground.

 Bob's Chevy Silverado ought to travel well on the snow. I told them to head east and not to go south along Lake Michigan because that's where the snow would be the heaviest.

 Here's Larry readying for the long ride home. 

 Looks to me that they're getting out of town just in time, too. The NWS is calling for another 6" of daytime snow accumulation and perhaps another 2" tonight. That might place the area closer to a foot of snow before this is over.

 They stopped at Burke's Waterfront in Cadillac for breakfast. Bob's comment: "I look tired". Well, yeah.

 Larry Sabin waiting for their meal 

 And so they're traveling east away from the storm, soon to turn south and outrun  the snow. Trying to visit Bear Lake in the winter always offers travel concerns. I remember being there on my Christmas vacation from high school in the 1960's. We found lots of snow on the ground but didn't have to outrun any storms.

 They arrived home about 2 PM.

 Good memories are still being created.