Welcome to my Tree House!

About me:

My name is Theresa, aka "Tree" to some longtime friends and a few relatives.

I'm a (mostly) stay-at-home-mom of two.  My passions include my family, my faith, and living in a simple manner that respects the blessings we have been given.

This week we've been busy, trying to pack as much as possible into time remaining before school starts:

On Saturday we sold produce at the local Farmers' Market.  It was the first time in our daughter's memory that we had been there.  Even though it began as a rainy morning, we had a good time.  We made a little money from the garden and were welcomed back warmly by vendors who remember our previous years at the Market.

On Sunday we went to a water amusement park.  It was a little chilly for August in Kansas, but we had fun anyway!  We spent the day playing in the pools and riding the water slides.  Good family entertainment.  And since it was cloudy most of the day, I don't think anyone was sunburned.

Bowling

Monday, we went bowling.  If you have children and haven't taken advantage of the Kids Bowl Free program, you should check into it.  I've been trying to avoid commercial promotion on this page, but this is worth it.  We've done this for three years and the kids love it.  It gives us an excuse to do something active inside (in air conditioning) when it's 90+ degrees outside!  Just go to http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/ to sign up.

Homemade Bread

Tuesday, we made bread.  I don't like to bake much during the hot weather.  Having the oven going just makes it hotter in the house.  However, I had several requests for bread at the Farmers' Market on Saturday, and Daughter and I decided to go back to the Market on Wednesday.  So a-baking we went!

Start by mixing the following in a large bowl or clean, food-grade bucket:

• 9 c (2 1/4 lbs) flour (all-purpose is fine, or you can use bread flour)
• 6 c warm (108 deg) water
• 2 T yeast
• 1/2 - 3/4 c sugar

Stir together well, place in a warmish area, and leave for one hour.

When you come back to it, you should have a nice, foamy mass.  Some bakers refer to this as biga.  Carefully pour over the top of this the following:

• 2 T salt
• 1/2 - 1 c cooking oil

Stir gently to incorporate the salt and oil into the biga.  Now start adding

• more flour (approximately 8 more cups)

and kneading.  You can use a mixer with a dough attachment, or just knead by hand.  I've done both.  If I knead by hand, I like to have my dough in my large metal mixing bowl.  (I'm guessing my bowl holds about 12 quarts.)  Then I put the bowl on the (clean!) floor, kneel down, and start kneading. 

To knead, basically grab one side of the dough, pull it to the middle of the dough, and push it down into it.  Rotate an quarter turn and repeat.  Keep going until the dough is fully kneaded. 

When is it fully kneaded?  When the dough ball feels like a baby's bottom:  Warm, firm, and not sticky.  This sounds weird, but I've discovered that it's true.  If it's sticky, add more flour and keep kneading.  If it's dry, you've added too much flour.  I admit that I'm a little challenged to recover from this point, but too much flour will make your bread dry.  Maybe add a little more warm water and try to get it back to the right consistency.

When it feels right, place it in a clean bowl that you've sprayed with cooking oil.  Spray the top of the dough with more cooking oil.  Cover loosely with a wet cloth.  A smooth-fibered cloth, like a tea towel, works better than a fuzzy one, because it will probably stick to the dough as the dough rises.

Place the bowl in a warmish place and leave for about an hour. 

If the kitchen is warm, just sit it on top of the stove.  I have put it in the oven (oven turned off) or behind the wood stove (in the winter).  Once or twice, when it was cool in the house but the wood stove wasn't lit (like in autumn), I've taken it out to my car, sitting in the sun, and left it in there for an hour.  As long as it's nice and warm, but not so hot as to start cooking the dough!

At the end of the hour, your dough should be twice as big as it was when you started (doubled in size).  Punch it down to get as much of the air out as you can.

Now the fun begins! 

You can shape this dough just about any way you want.  I make loaves in 1-pound, 1 1/4-pound, or 1 1/2-pound increments, depending on which pans I'm using. Shape the loaf, tucking the ends under, and place, tuck-side-down, into your loaf pans.

You can roll it into balls for rolls (1 ounce of dough) or hamburger buns (2 1/2 ounces).  Shape 2 1/2 ounces into a hot dog shape for hot dog or brat buns, or 5 ounces for sub buns.

You can also take a pound of it, roll it out into a flat rectangle, about 12 inches on the long side, spread butter over the dough, and shake on generous amounts of cinnamon and sugar.  Roll it up tightly, like a jelly roll, so it's 12 inches long.  Then cut into 1-inch slices for cinnamon rolls.  Use dental floss, slid under the roll, brought up, crossed, and pulled tight, to cut the rolls.  It works better than just slicing.

Whichever shape you choose, after shaping and placing on/in the baking pan, let it sit in the warm area for 20 - 30 minutes, to raise again, before baking.

I bake all my bread at 350 degrees.  Just keep an eye on it, and take it out when it looks done.  It should be brown on top, not doughy, and the loaves should sound hollow if you pull one out and tap it on the bottom.

• Bread - about 30 - 35 minutes
• All rolls except cinnamon - 10 minutes (more or less)
• Cinnamon Rolls - 20 -25 minutes

This recipe makes about nine one-pound loaves.