More Sourdough with a Few Strings Thrown in at the End--post 4

Sourdough Bagels

I've continued baking sourdough recipes from the Artisan Sourdough Made Simple cookbook. In October, I baked bagels. Years ago, I baked bagels and didn't have good results. These bagels, however, were delicious. The recipe states that a New Yorker will tell you after taking one bite that the bagel is a taste of home. Well, my friend, Wendy, is a New Yorker. I brought her a couple. I didn't even get home before she had texted me about how good the bagels were and how they reminded her of the ones she would eat in New York.

I was lamenting the fact that the bagels didn't have holes and she wrote, "Who needs holes when these are so good?" Actually, the bagels are better with smaller holes because you can add more stuff without it falling through the hole!

Pita Bread

In November,  I baked two new to me recipes. First, I baked pita bread. I rolled half of the dough  super thin and these were more like what I have purchased from the store. The other half of the dough, I rolled the recommended 1/4 inch thick. I liked eating these better. 

I baked some of the pitas on a pizza stone and some of the pitas in a cast iron skillet. The pitas browned better in the cast iron skillet; but, both methods worked. This is not a recipe I will make often. I think I didn't like the flavor that the whole wheat flour imparted. I may try the recipe again using only white flour to see if I like the results better.

They split well and we filled them with pulled pork one day, egg scramble another and roast chicken on a third day!

Soft and Tear Rolls

At Thanksgiving, my daughter asked if I would bring rolls--my choice on what I wanted to make. I baked two kinds. The Soft and Tare rolls which I've shared before. These turned out the best ever. 

Cranberry Pecan Sourdough rolls

The other recipe I made was Cranberry Pecan Sourdough rolls. These went well with the turkey and would also work great at a brunch because they were sweet. Both were even better tasting than they looked!

Blistered asiago rolls with sweet apple and rosemary

In December, I baked the Sourdough asiago rolls. I've wanted to bake these since I first perused the recipes in this cookbook. The recipe calls for dried apples; but, I followed the hint and sautéd apple slices in a pan until they were wrinkled and those worked great. After you form the rolls, you bruh the dough with water and then roll that piece of formed dough in the shredded asiago cheese. The rolls raise once more before baking. Eating these warm was the best of all the recipes. My husband said that we weren't sharing the remainder with anyone! 

Pickled jalapeno, cheddar and chive bread

Later in the month, I baked the Pickled Jalapeño, Cheddar and Chive bread. My husband likes foods with a kick and cheese is always a win in his book! There are more recipes I have tried so I'll keep documenting baking the recipes in this cookbook. While I like to bake a sourdough something each week, the requests for favorites don't leave much room for a new recipe!

Writing this post was goal number nine on my January list.

Sorting blue strings

Yesterday, I started sorting and stitching blue strings for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I hope to stitch enough strings to make a huge dent in the blue string bag!

The Village of Artists--made from a variety of house blocks

My daughter delivered the house quilt on Monday. The recipient loved it. He ist 35 years old with a wife, three year old son and a baby on the way. He is recovering from a burst embolism. His speech improves every day and he has a little movement in his right side. He is hopeful to walk again.

 He was awed someone he didn't know would make him such a beautiful "blanket." He said the letter that I wrote about the quilt touched his heart. Yesterday, his wife saw it. She wrote "The blanket is absolutely amazing. Your mum's letter brought me to tears. Honestly, it is so beautiful and it was so kind of her."

This quilt definitely is where it needs to be!