Common Sense Living With Charlie

Kolaches (Putting them together)- Part 2

2011-03-28T22:25:00.001-05:00

If you don't want to make your own dough for this, go get some raw pizza dough or crescent roll dough would work, too. Ok, let's put together some kolaches.

This is what I use when I'm rolling breads and pastries out.

Here's the dough I made in the last post...

Cut into 4ths (the recipe makes 2 loaves)

Kneading 1/4 getting the air out.

Finished kneading. Notice how smooth it is. All the gluten is formed and it's ready to bake (after letting it rise in a pan). But I digress.......

Cut the 1/4 into 3rds

and again to make 6 pcs.

Here's what I'm using to stuff very hot kolaches

I had some friends over to taste test, and boy, did we get heartburn for you, 7 different sausages. UGH!! but in a good way!! This is the sausage we finally settled on:

It's a bit hot and cheesy! YUM

If you don't know, use fully cooked sausage. Otherwise you will have a greasy piece of raw meat in bread for your end product!

I cut these in a julienne cut. (angled lengthwise)

I rolled these out to about 1/8" thick. The testers I made were thicker and they were just too much bread for me. That may seem thin, but remember, the bread will rise. If the dough curls on the edges, stop and let it rest a minute, then start again. Note the shape.

Load it up with whatever you want. Mine is grated cheddar and nacho sliced jalapenos.

When you roll it up, fold in the sides first, pinching together any open spots.

And if you tear a big hole, don't worry....

Just pull off some dough from another pile and cover it up...No one will know....I won't tell on you! lol

I'm putting mine in wax paper for the refrigerator, so I can cook them on a cookie sheet in the morning. The wax paper will help me keep them separated tonight, since I'm short on space in the fridge.

I'm also doing some ham and cheese for the wussies out there that can't deal with the heat!

This is just Walmart honey ham.

with shredded cheddar cheese

2 slices of ham (the testers were not full enough for me)

And more cheese

Makes a nice little lunch, don't ya think?

This is leftover dough

That you can just bag up (no air) and put it in the fridge for a couple of days or just put it in the freezer and make some rolls or whatever with it later....

I'll be cooking the kolaches in the morning. I'll post pics of the finished product when they're done. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, pull out the rolls from the fridge or freezer and let them warm a bit - to room temp is best. Spray the pan you're putting it on or in and then the top and sides of the roll to keep it from cracking as it rises and when it bakes. The rolls will then start to rise. As they do, bake them for about 30 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Making Amish bread dough for Kolaches Part 1

2011-03-28T20:47:00.000-05:00

I'm going to break this into 2 parts. Some of you may know how to start bread dough already, but for those who would like to learn, here ya' go. Please let me know how these posts are doing for you and if you have any requests. They are much appreciated and I want this to be an interesting blog for everyone!

A friend of mine wanted some home made kolaches and knows of my bread making efforts, so I agreed to give it a whirl and take you ALL with me!!

So here we go!

To get started, this is what you need:

a mixing bowl (5 - 6 quart)

yeast

2 1/4 c warm water

1 T sugar

whisk

Yeast for the bread. If you KNOW that your yeast is active, you can speed through this step. I did it the slow way to show you how to find out before your bread turns out like a hockey puck.

Into the mixing bowl, put 2 tsp yeast and about 1T sugar. This sugar is not for sweetening at this time. This is to feed the yeast once you add the water and will be eliminated during the next step called "blooming" or "proofing" your yeast.

Next, let's discuss water temperature. It's VERY important to get your yeast going. A lot of recipes say 110 degrees which I agree with, but usually, I can't find my thermometer. Instead, just warm up your tap water to where you would normally wash your hands (in the winter). It needs to be very warm, but not hot or scalding. Just remember, if it hurts you, it'll kill your yeast!

So, continuing on, add 2 1/4 c warm water to the yeast and sugar and whisk the crap out of it! Go for it! Ok, stop and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes. The warmer it is in the room, the faster the next step will happen.

Bread making is a great way to take out the frustrations of the day, so don't be shy, whip away!

Well, the picture didn't come out so well, did it? When it's proofed, it looks like VERY fine bubbles as in a bubble bath or dishwater. Anyway, it will be strikingly different than when you walked off for those few minutes. Enough of that. Your yeast is working and it's time to make some bread!

Here's what you need next:

(since I'm making hot kolaches, I'm making a sweet bread)

1/2 c sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 c oil

5 1/2 c flour

Mix all these with a dough hook (or by hand until blended).

If you don't have a Kitchenaid mixer, some other kind of powerful mixer, or bread machine, then I suggest you do the rest by hand. I don't because I have some back problems and have learned to work smart, not hard in my old age! lol.

Mix until the dough starts to become "stretchy" (that means gluten is forming) and if doing by hand, this is the time to start taking frustrations out on the dough. Use your fist and punch the dough and stretch it, fold the stretched part back to the center and punch some more. The idea is to get all the yeast to touch some part of the flour so it can work with the gluten and form air bubbles. Now walk away for another 5-10 minutes (you work too hard!) This is called "resting".

Mix it some more in the same manner as before.

You should start to notice that the dough is getting smoother now and not so lumpy. That means that the gluten is forming up (yea!).

Time for a long break. Put the dough in a bowl that's big enough for the dough to double in size. Put some saran wrap over the top and sides of the dough ball.

Now a WARM, wet wash rag....

And a towel to hold in the heat.

Now go watch a movie and wait for it to double in size.

Like this

Uncover it, punch it down, mix it some more, slap it around, punch it, go ahead, you know you want to!

or just be calm and do it in the mixer! lol

Ok, I'm stopping the post here, it seems a little long and I'm new at this. This is where you would shape the loaves, rolls, or whatever else you want to make, oil your pan and the top of the loaves and let it double again (this recipe makes 2 9x5 loaves). Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 - 30 minutes until, when you turn out the loaf and tap on the bottom, it sounds hollow and it's done.

See the next post to watch me shape and put together some kolaches! Enjoy!

Breakfast Bars

2011-03-27T16:56:00.001-05:00

I make these on a regular basis for a filling, breakfast on the go. They are very versatile and easy to make.

You probably have everything you need to make them.

Here's the basic recipe (you can adjust to your own tastes):

350 degree preheated oven

1 can sweetened condensed milk or fat free sw. cond. milk

1 c peanut butter - I put a plastic bag in my measuring cup, then load the pb for easy clean up

1/2 c oil

1/2 c applesauce ( I left it out this time, since I didn't have any and it was fine)

4 c quick oats (or steel cut)

3 1/2 c mix of dried fruits and nuts ( I used 1 c raisins, 1 c craisins, 1 c chopped walnuts, 1/2 c sliced almonds)

suggestions: chocolate chips, pb chips, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, pecans, dried blueberries, apricots. Well, you get the idea.
1 T vanilla
1 T cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Ahhh, versatility! I didn't have enough peanut butter, so I added this to the mix.

A tip for quick chopping nuts: put them in a bag and roll over them with your rolling pin until you get the right consistency.

Put it all in the mixer, or you can mix it yourself, until all ingredients are moist.

Spray a 9 x 13 pan

Dump it in,

Don't you just hate messy hands? I put a bag over my hand to press this into the pan.

Just get it pressed down well and relatively level.

Put it in the preheated oven and cook for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

This is how it comes out - just barely brown on the edges. Don't overcook it, or the bars will fall apart after it's cool.

Let it rest for about 10 minutes. I have this cool cutter I use for cutting these. I spray it, or your knife with cooking spray, because it's pretty sticky. I cut mine into 12 pcs. Leave them in the pan to finish cooling completely.
When completely cool, take them out and wrap individually in saran wrap for a quick, on the go breakfast.

Enjoy!!

Friday Update (3/25/2011)

2011-03-25T17:10:00.000-05:00

Here's the stuff I have to show you today:

This is the vege soup I fed the worms yesterday evening. A few worms have found their way over to the pile. I gave them a little mist of water......(btw, this is buried in the middle of the depth of newspaper shreds) so I covered it back up with another layer of damp newspaper and then

added a piece of wet cardboard to the top to help keep in the moisture (since it's so dry here in West Texas.) followed by the lid that came with the tub.

I did buy just a couple of plants. The one here is a grape Roma tomato. I wanted some small tomatoes and I thought this would be an interesting choice this year. It looks a little droopy from the ride home, so I gave it a drink of water.

Put the 2 water filled 2 liter coke bottles in the 5 gal bucket, sphagnum moss, then potting mix. The tomato plant is a bit taller in the bucket than I want. They really need to be planted halfway up the plant that you bring home from the store to help the root system get well established. I am planting my other "store bought" plant (mint) with this tomato.

And here's the finished tomato and mint.

Here's my "baby" yellow squash. I also seeded Nasturtiums around outside edge of the bucket and I added a small piece of mint.

See the (white) roots coming out? Time to plant my Black Diamond Zucchini!

I left it low in the bucket to protect it from the winds that we always get. I'll build up the dirt to the top as it grows. That's a cutting of mint in there with it to help deter squash bugs. (What a pain in the butt those are!)

Looks pretty barren, doesn't it? The top one is (maybe you can see the purple seedling) purple basil. Still waiting on my tomato seed to sprout. Lord, give me patience, RIGHT NOW!!! lol I gave it a good drink.

If you look in the center, there's a bean (bush) peeking through. I've had those in my portable green house (plastic crates) and it was really warm to the touch.

There's some basil sprouting from the portable double layered greenhouse. These plants, I must say, look stronger than the 1st ones I started in the one layer of plastic because the heat and moisture are held in more efficiently.

These are Johnny Jump Ups sprouting up. They are pretty and edible, too!

I'm using this kelp tea for watering the seedlings. They say it helps, but I can't really tell, yet. We'll see.

Going to rest for a bit now and TRY, I say TRY to do some cooking tonight. I want to do some experimenting with kolaches. When I get to it, be sure pics will be up soon after showing what and how I've done it.....have a GREAT WEEKEND!!

Time for a rest, I guess, Thanks, Mother Nature!

2011-03-24T11:55:00.000-05:00

It's just too windy to do anything today. I'm stuck inside since the dust has also reared it's head. I would teach you a good recipe, but we're having a few electrical issues with our house, so I'm waiting on my electrician to come fix that. So I guess the dogs and I will just chill out and watch some Netflix today and pray for better weather tomorrow so I can plant some spinach. If I can get the electricity issue fixed today, we'll also be doing a beef bourguignon in the slow cooker as well as spinach, if the weather cooperates, so check back tomorrow. You just NEVER KNOW what I'll be up to!

Portable Hot House

2011-03-23T20:54:00.000-05:00

It's been pretty cool here in the morning, so I decided to re-arrange to make the temp a little higher for my little babies to sprout a little quicker. I had just started some in my little plastic underbed storage containers alone, but that seemed a bit too chilly this morning inside it, so this is my solution.

These are shoe box size Sterilite boxes that I found at Walmart for $1/each!
Again, a closed bottle of water for temp and weight control.
My label sticks are paint stirrers you can get for free at any place that sells paint.
And last, but not least, my "pellet" seed starter with the seeds in it.

Stack 'em up! FYI - I'll be using this big crate for my carrots and beans when I finish sprouting all these plants.

And here's the side view. This container is in full sun on a white table. When I stuck my hand in there about 1 pm, it was probably 80 degrees in there which is excellent temperature for sprouting seed even though it was only 70 degrees outside the box. They should sprout pretty quickly at this rate...

The Worms Have Arrived!

2011-03-23T20:31:00.000-05:00

Yup, they came today!

At first, I thought they may not be alive, but, yea, they were. The instructions say that they were probably dehydrated from the trip and to add about 1/2 c water, which I did and they perked right up.

Here they are in their new home....

Gave them a little drink with the mister.....

I added more damp newspaper strips until it reached that little ridge (3/4 full) in the tub. I also added a wet piece of cardboard to the top of the newspaper to help keep it cool. Then I put the tub lid back on for my new friends. Sleep tight, little buddies!

This is the book I got to go with it...

Container Garden Tomatoes

2011-03-22T13:44:00.000-05:00

It's really windy here in West Texas today, so I didn't get much done with 30 mph sustained winds and a BIG "Red Flag" warning (wildfires) today, but here's what I DID get done this morning...

My heirloom tomatoes. I've not had any luck starting tomatoes from seed, but my new thinking is that, if it gets really tough, economically, I'm gonna need to be able to do it. So this year, I'm doing an experiment on just that subject. I'll share what I do and if any of you have any advice or tips, please feel free to chime in.....
I bought some cheap paint buckets at Walmart (about $5 with lid) that are food safe plastic. It's so windy here in the spring, I thought I would weigh them down with rocks, but decided, instead, to repurpose my empty 2 liter coke bottles filled with water for weight.

Then I added some peat moss to the bottom of the bucket (drain holes drilled with my handy dandy Dremel.

And then a layer of potting mix, but not too high (about 3/4 of the way up)

And then a little "hill" of seed starting mix to put my pellet in.

Get that pretty damp (gently, cause that seed starter is VERY lightweight)

I got these at Walmart and the smaller ones for the smaller plants. Very clever.

That's the pellet with a 2 seeds in it that have been going for a couple of days

I bought this kelp amendment to help my seeds get started

Labeled the top and put it on tight, since my seeds have not sprouted yet.
Bury the pellet 1/2 to 3/4 up in the seed starter.

So here are my thoughts on this subject, tomatoes, at least:

1) The water filled bottles provide temperature regulation. West Texas days are VERY how and nights sometimes VERY cold. Tomatoes do their best around 80 degrees, so once the water in the bottles are warmed, they will steady out at that temp and be better for the plant.

2) The filled bottles also add weight because of the high winds here and the dirt I use is so light, I think it will need a counterweight as it grows heavy with fruit!

3) The roots SHOULD go around the bottles, so no problem there.

4) I only fill the container 3/4 full, because when you transplant one from the store, it is suggested that you bury it halfway anyway, so if I don't move it, no stress to the plant.

5) Wind is a very damaging agent for a tomato, so by leaving it low in the container, it is protected from the wind. I had several plants year before last that just snapped off from the wind. Not a problem everywhere, I realize, but something to think about.

6) This also leaves room for the possibility that there is still a freeze in our future and there will be room within the container to just run out and put the lid on them to protect them from frost for the night.

7) As they sprout up hardening off should also be easier with that bit of plastic there for protection from the direct wind. As they grow that 2nd set of leaves, then I'll start adding dirt to the top. Again, this is an experiment, so we'll see how well thought out this is for tomatoes.