American DIY spirit in action
There is nothing quite like baking to bring your hear and soul home.
Bread,
…cinnammon rolls and
…snicker doodle cookies.
Yum!
After work, I just walked into the kitchen and had a blast making these goodies. The smell was just like walking into my grandmas house or Pete’s Mom’s house at Christmas. Wow, the things we take for granted. I love having a home.
Today is bread baking day at the Woelks in Elk. Part of learning to live more simply for me is to cook almost all of our food ourselves. This includes basics like homemade bread. Just about every other week I make a batch of bread up.
After these loaves cool, I wrap them in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil and place them in the freezer. When we thaw out a loaf, I set it on the counter and make sure we eat it before the week is out
There are some things that I did not know about fresh bread. Store-bought bread lasts 2 or more weeks sitting in its bag on the counter. But, there are no preservatives in homemade bread so it does not last even a whole week on the counter. When it decides to mold it is a really fast transformation. Really, quite amazing to see, like a science experiment in the kitchen.
You can not store freshly baked bread in a refrigerator unless you like bread that really resembles croutons. Hard as a rock. The fridge and fresh bread are not friends as far as I am concerned.
This favorite recipe is a 4 loaf mix that starts with 14 cups of flour. It is simple bread that I have never had anyone complain about. This same recipe can instead make either a large pan or two 9×12 cake pans of cinnamon rolls and 2 loaves of bread.
If we are wanting dinner rolls this recipe makes four 9×12 pans of dinner rolls that can be frozen too. Or, sometimes I just roll them into golfball size balls of dough and place them on a cookie sheet in the freezer till they are frozen. Then they are easy to bag and keep in the freezer. This is really handy because we can use as many as we feel like. Taken straight from the freezer, we let them thaw out and raise in a greased baking pan. Then bake in the oven right before dinner. People think you slaved all day over dinner.