Thankful Thursday + another recipe

I had something else in mind to be thankful for previously, but after a little computer scare this morning, I decide that today, I'm definitely thankful my computer didn't die on me...and it reminded me to BACK-UP everything!!!

Below is the burger buns recipe that Sherrie (Frenchy's Finds) requested. It's a bread machine recipe, but those of you who know how to cook bread by hand will likely know how to mix all the ingredients together into a good dough.Butter Rolls

¾ C + 2 T milk
1/3 C water
1/3 C butter
1 egg
4 C bread flour
3 T sugar
1 ½ t salt
2 ½ t Active Dry Yeast

Load ingredients into your bread-machine in the order specified in its manual (for my Zojirushi, I always put wet stuff in first, followed by flour, butter, sugar, salt, and the yeast in a little well in the center). Set it for "dough" cycle and hit start.

When the cycle ends, dump the dough out onto a floured surface and knead 2 to 3 times to release air. Divide dough into 16* pieces and shape into hot dog or burger buns.

Cover the buns with clean kitchen towel and let rise until double in size (about 1 hour).

Bake in preheated 350F oven (preheat about 20 minutes before the dough finishes rising) for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown.

This is my no-fail recipe that I've been using for at least 10 years now; I hope it works for you as well!

Anything in particular that you're thankful for today?

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Cookies Experiment

At the Soap and the Finer Things in Life blog, one of my muses, there was a recipe from the Martha Stewart site for these really pretty cookies:


I've never attempted this type of cookies before, so, inspired by these beauties, I wanted to give them a try.

Well, despite my moderately good baking skills, I wasn't able to produce a good first batch - I avoid conventional food colorings which accounts for the fact that my colors are not as vibrant:

A Candlewick plateful

Close up of two of the variations: the one with the darker dough layer is cocoa, and the other is the natural red food dye made from black currants.

It's hard to see in the photo of the dish of cookies, but aside from the 2 layer rolls, I also made a roll that had the "red" dough in the center (as a log like for the middle of the bull's-eye), and then the chocolate and vanilla layers done as a jelly roll around the center log.

I have learned a few things from this experiment:
1) cutting down on the sugar was a good move, but I think I should cut down on the salt a bit as well (taste-wise, it's a fine cookie, but I like a shortbread texture more than a sugar or butter cookie texture)
2) when making the jelly roll design, offset the second layer from the long edge of the layer just like you do with the rice on nori for making sushi, and also slant that long rolling end to make a crisper, pointier, and therefore, prettier, center
3) I think I prefer the thickness to be closer to 1/2" than 1/4" thick for each slice
4) when cutting off the last bits of a roll, switch to a sharp serrated knife
5) use more egg whites, or make sure this "glue" is spread out more evenly
6) I should make my own natural food coloring, such as blueberry juice for a purplish-blue tint, beet juice for red tint (instead of the black currant stuff we bought), and maybe even a small bit of turmeric for an orangy-yellow tint
7) I will definitely try rolling them in sugar crystals (turbinado, maybe) for a glitter effect

Now I need to go post-Christmas shopping to snag a silicon jelly pan so I can make Anne-Marie's really pretty Jelly Roll Soaps!


"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)