Saturday, March 28, 2020

Rug Burns and Rolls

Unfortunately for me, the horse whisperer has not come by to visit.  Instead, all those rug burns came from playing with Cooper on the living room floor for three hours straight.  Several leg muscles, whose previous existence were unknown, came to say hello in a charlie horse kind of way.  THAT resulted in flailing around on the carpet causing the rug burns.

The good news is after eating some salt, the cramps subsided and Cooper slept for the rest of the day and night.  It is rather interesting the angles your toes can create when those little muscles go bonkers.

With all the hoarding going on and no yeast available at my local store, although I was able to procure a package of the old fashioned kind, I kept thinking about how I could make bread without it.  Not that I need bread ... but your mind goes crazy looking for something to do.  

Back in the days of the dinosaurs, we made all our bread from scratch, using those solid blocks of moist yeast that you melted in warm water.  Once some of it was liquid, we mixed in water and flour to become sourdough starter.  

You "fed" it more water and flour every time you took some out of the crock.  It would bubble up again and smell like heaven.  It sat with it's cheesecloth cover on the back of the stove to keep warm and "working".

I was surprised when my neighbor called to say she had some sourdough biscuits for me, and some starter if I so desired.  Heck yeah!!!
It's new starter, so hasn't created it's best flavor yet.  Some bakeries have starters over 100 years old.  They just keep it growing day after day.  Back in the cowboy days, Sourdough Slim was named because he had the tastiest sourdough biscuits around.

When Patty invited me to dinner, she suggested I make rolls.  It would give me something to do.  THAT was a great idea.  I took two recipes and tried to put them together since I didn't have all the ingredients for either one.  What I DID have was a bread machine that would knead it for me. Yahoo!!

Oh my ... that looked like too much water.  I took some out, double checking both recipes.  Oh NO!!! There's not enough water!  I put in some more.  In no time, I realized I put in too MUCH!!  Good grief.  I sat with a spoon and added one tablespoon of flour at a time, trying to get the right consistency.  

At long last, the bread machine was done with it's job and I dumped the dough out on the counter.  I completely forgot about letting it rest.  I chopped it up and let them rise one last time before plunking them in the oven.  I was praying they tasted okay.
They certainly look delicious!!  You know how it smells so good when you walk into a house that has fresh bread baking?  Not so much here.  I don't understand why ... maybe it's the new instant yeast.  At any rate, they were a hit at the Chance house (even if they were a tad tough) and went perfectly with that wonderful stew.  I may just have to make some more for good measure.
In the meantime, winner winner!!!  I found some of those Monopoly pieces from Safeway and opened them up to discover I won $5.00.  Better than a stick in the eye!!!  
The safari was cancelled due to bad weather.  It got very cold again, with rain and wind on and off all day.  I was rewarded for staying inside with a beautiful sunset.  
I'm pretty sure all this sitting has extended my undercarriage a couple of inches.  All the more for the puppies to snuggle up against I suppose.  

As to our recovery, Stanford University Researchers say we will recover from this pandemic much faster than expected, although I have no idea what time frame that would be.  It WOULD be wonderful news not to have families losing their members.  Just when we think everything is coming up roses, life throws a big wrench into the world.







18 comments:

  1. That bread/rolls looks very yummy. We have found a low carb bread that we really like. SOLA is the brand name, get it direct or through Amazon. One slice of the wheat bread is 3 carbs, but the taste, compared to other low carb breads, is very, very good, especially when you make a grilled cheese sandwich, or toast with eggs.

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    1. I'll try it Dave. I do love bread, but try to stay away from it.

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  2. Those rolls do look awesome! I remember years ago the craze was "Amish friendship bread" We ate and shared alot of that..there was white and chocolate oh that was yummy. Yeah that cramping is no fun..I've heard a little pickle juice will take care of that when it happens. Hopefully you've found some help for the rug burns. You are a good mama to play for so long!

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    1. Pickle juice? Interesting! Yup I remember the Amish bread. The whole thing didn't last long in my kitchen.

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  3. Even with regular exercise you can still end up with Charlie Horses just not as bad. Still can't figure out the Rug Burn.
    Those rolls sure look tasty. Maybe more exploring will keep the inches off.
    The sooner they find a cure or vaccine for this the better.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. I was on my knees the entire time I played with Cooper ... in shorts of course, so my knees got pretty torn up. You are right .. I need to take a hike or two!!

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  4. Laughed at the rug burns. I've played with a pooch on rugs so know where you are coming from!
    Your rolls look delicious! I'm sure they tasted good too with Chance's stew.
    Time is going, and hopefully we'll be done with all this soon.

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    1. The rolls were not bad for not having made them in 40 years. Think I might try that again.

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  5. Beautiful bread and beautiful sunset.

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    1. Thank you Elva .... wish the sunsets would last as long as the bread! LOL

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  6. As a cyclists cramps after a long ride can be a problem. First and foremost make sure you're well hydrated, salt helps but and so do indigestion tablets. Just suck a couple of Rennies,[ do you have these], after exercise.

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    1. Oh really? I can do that!! I'm an old runner and used to take lots of supplements, but since I finally gave that up, I have none in the house. I'll look for Renies.

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  7. Now I know the rest of the story! Those rolls look scrumptious and I thought starter was used to start a đŸ”¥. Learn something new every day. Yes, yesterday day was bad weather wise but today makes up for it.

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    1. This starter is a yeasty mixture that you leave on the counter, adding flour and water every time you take some out. It keeps on bubbling, making that wonderful sourdough flavor. It was fun to try after all these years. It truly was a gorgeous day.

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  8. Those rolls look good
    Cramps are usually the first sign of dehydration drink plenty of water or bananas for potassium

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    1. I admit, I haven't been drinking enough water. Bananas are for Hawaiian banana bread. There's a story behind that!

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  9. I remember having some of that starter and the bread machine. Then I realized just how much bread we were eating but the house did smell good for awhile. Beautiful Sunset.

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    1. You can certainly go crazy with homemade bread. When it's cool, I immediately slice it up and stick it in the freezer. No use even having it out to entice me to eat more.

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