Oatmeal Bread

I've been enjoying making bread but got tired of the same thing. I thought oatmeal bread would be a fun and different thing to try.  This time I just made a single loaf. I have been having to freeze the second loaf to keep it from going bad. After all, homemade bread doesn't have any preservatives.

Oatmeal Bread

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup scalded milk

1 envelope yeast or 2 1/4 teaspoons

1/2 cup warm water

2 Tablespoons molasses

2 1/2 cups flour plus 1/4 cup as necessary

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons butter cut in small pieces

oil for greasing the bowl

Pam for spraying the loaf pan

Heat 1 cup of milk to just when it starts to bubble and before it boils. 

Pour the milk over 1 cup of oatmeal in a medium bowl. Stir to moisten and set aside.

Put the molasses and the very warm, but not hot, water in a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top, give it a brief stir and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer place the 2 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar and salt.  Use the paddle to mix slowly.  

Remove the paddle and add the oatmeal, butter and yeast mixture.  Use the dough hook to mix. Stop frequently to scrape down the sides. 

My dough needed a bit more flour.  It was too sticky to form a ball.  I added about 1/8 cup more of flour and then used the rest of the 1/4 cup to sprinkle on the counter.

 

Then I hand kneaded for about a minute until it was smooth and elastic and had absorbed the flour.  

Pour about 1Tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large bowl and spread up the sides.  Place the ball of dough in the bowl and flip it a few times to oil the whole ball. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp cloth and set aside to rise for about an hour or until it doubles in size.

Lightly flour the counter.  Punch the dough down and knead it to get rid of bubbles.  

Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a rectangle slightly wider than the bread pan. Roll it up tightly and then fold the ends in so it is slightly shorter than the loaf pan. Pinch the ends to try to make a seamless tube.

Spray the loaf pan with Pam.  Place the dough in it with the seam side down. Cover with whatever you used to cover the bowl. Let it rise until it has doubled, about an hour.

Adjust the rack in the oven so the bread can cook in the middle of it. Preheat the oven to 375°. Bake about 30-40 minutes.  Mine was done at 30 minutes. 

Set the loaf pan on a rack to cool.  

While it is cooling brush the top with butter.  After about 5 minutes turn the bread out onto the rack to finish cooling.

After it had cooled completely, I cut it and had a bite.  It was great.  

Then I buttered the slice.  It was even better.

I served it toasted with eggs.  Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner? It was great toasted, too.

Garlic Butter Steak Bites With Veggies

I found this quick recipe for a complete meal on one sheet pan. It feeds 4 or 5 people or a bit more than two meals for us. 

Garlic Butter Steak Bites

1 Bag of the tiny mixed potatoes (1 pound)

12 ounces green beans

1 small onion. I like Vidalia but a red onion would work

Olive Oil

salt and pepper

1 pound sirloin steak

1 Tablespoon Worchestershire sauce

2 Tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley or rosemary

Set the oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and set it to 350 °. Spray a 10x15 baking sheet with Pam.

Wash the potatoes and cut in half. Place in a medium bowl. Wash the green beans and trim off the ends. Put in the same bowl.  Cut the onion in half and then in wedges.  Add to the bowl.

Pour about 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil over the veggies and add about 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

Mix well and spread in the prepared pan.

Roast the veggies in the oven for 15 minutes.  Set the timer for 7 minutes, remove the pan and flip the veggies over, return to the oven and set the timer for 8 minutes.

While the veggies cook, trim the fat off the steak and cut it into 1 inch cubes.  Places them in the same medium bowl and add the Worchestershire sauce, about 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. stir and set aside.

Preheat the broiler. After the veggies cook for 15 minutes, remove the pan and push the veggies aside to make a circle in the center where you place the meat.  Arrange them in a single layer and return to the oven.

Broil for 6 to 8 minutes, flipping everything half way through. I did it for 8 minutes but might do 6 minutes next time.

While the meat is cooking, place the butter in a small saucepan and melt it over medium heat,  Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds or so.

Drizzle the butter over the meat and veg.  Sprinkle the minced parsley over everything and serve.

I served it with a bit of horseradish and mayo.  It's a favorite of min.  I like it with meat and potatoes.,

Dolls and Houses

I do a fair bit of pattern searching on the internet. Mostly I am looking for cute quilt patterns.  So then I sometimes get not searched for patterns that just pop up.  

This is what happened with a fabric doll house in a book form.  It came in three sizes. It came with the pattern for a doll and then there were other patterns available for clothes for said doll. 

        

The inside of the house has a bed and a closet to store the clothes.

My granddaughters were coming for a visit, so I decided to make them each a doll and dollhouse. 

I made one doll with blonde hair and one doll with black hair to match the hair color of my granddaughters. 

Then I thought I would make each granddaughter two dolls. Dolls need friends and I thought that might make for fun play.

All the clothes are lined.  This means they can be reversible and doubles the number of outfits.  

They are sewn with the right sides together leaving a small opening to turn them right side out.  It is very tedious and difficult to turn them, but it is doable.  

 

Needle nose pliers help pulling the fabric and I bought some metal and plastic tools to assist and to poke the corners mostly square.  

        

The jackets are the hardest, but are so cute.

           

After I gave the two sets to my older granddaughters, I started making one for my one year old granddaughter.  

She won't be able to play much with it now, but I wanted to make it while I was in the mood.  

It is fun and challenging and finding the right fabrics is an aspect I really enjoy. 

 

I gave the finished house to CeCe for her first birthday and I made a second for another girl attending the party.  There were two more girl friends at the party so now I'm starting on two more houses.  

It's fun and I'll keep making these houses as long as I enjoy the process and as long as there are kids that want them.

Amish White Bread

 I grew up in Altadena, CA. I also used to make a lot of bread.  So when a site I follow on Facebook, What's Up In Altadena, posted a bread recipe, I decided to try it.

It was easy and used my Kitchen Aid mixer. I have always enjoyed the process of kneading bread, but this recipe used my dough hook. I have never used it!  Plus, I am now dealing with carpal tunnel problems, so saving my hands seemed like a good idea.

Amish White Bread

2 cups warm water, about 110-120 °

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 Tablespoons yeast (2 packets of the 3)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

6 cups flour 

Place the sugar and water in the bowl of your mixer.  Stir to mix and then sprinkle the yeast on top. 

Let it dissolve 5-15 minutes.

This is called the bloom.

Add the salt, oil and half the flour.  Mix slowly to incorporate.

 Then add the remaining flour, but don't mix. Replace the mixing paddle with the dough hook and mix slowly until the dough ball is pulling away from the sides of the bowl.

Sprinkle a bit of flour on the very clean counter and knead a few times.

Drizzle about 2 Tablespoons oil in a large mixing bowl and smear it all around and up the sides. Place the dough ball in the prepared bowl and flip it a few times to get it coated in oil. Cover with cling wrapp and place in a warm, draft free area until it doubles in size.  Check in about 1 hour.  I set a timer on my phone as I tend to get involved in projects and forget to look.

Remove the cover and place it upside down to use later  Spray two bread pans with Pam.

Punch the dough down and lay it out on a surface sprinkled with flour.  Cut it in half.  

Knead the ball to get rid of air bubbles.  Roll it out into a rectangle.  

Pinch any remaining air bubbles.  Roll it up tightly from the long side. 

Pinch the seam closed.  

Pinch the ends closed and fold over to make it a bit smaller than the size of the bread pan.  

Pinch the seams. Place in the prepared pan and repeat with the second half.

Place in a warm spot and cover the pans with the saved cling wrap. Let rise until doubled, about 30-50 minutes. Mine took about 40 minutes.  Set a timer so it doesn't rise too much.  Pre-heat the oven to 350°.

Place in the  center of the oven and bake for 25-35 minutes.

Pull out and brush the tops with melted butter.  Let cool 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.  

Let cool before you cut into it. This could be the hardest part.  If you cut too soon it will smush together.  

This makes a very nice sandwich bread.  But it is especially nice with a smear of softened butter.