Culinary Success!

I can make a mean cheesecake.  In fact, we voted Mom's superior to the Cheesecake Factory's pie we splurged on last week on vacation.

But I can't make a crust from scratch to save my life!  Which is very odd, considering my mother can turn out perfect pie crusts by the millions without so much as batting an eyelash.

Nor do I ever have much success with making homemade breads, the kinds with yeast and rising and waiting and all that fun stuff.  Quick breads?  Sure, no problem!  But you give me a tiny packet of yeast and I will find a way to destroy it.  Or whatever loaf it was meant to yield.  I follow the directions to the tee, painstakingly setting the dough ball (when it actually even becomes a dough ball for me!) inside the oven with a pan of hot water on the lower rack, and wait, and...it never rises the way it's supposed to!  Sure, I can still make rolls or bread with inferior, unrisen dough, but it definitely lacks that wonderful, melt-in-your-mouth appeal, and is either very chewy or too dense.

Yesterday...drum roll please...I don't know why I was feeling inspired- well, it was miserably cold and wet, so that was probably why- so I searched the cabinets for a lonely little packet of yeast (of course it expired in Nov, which did little to deter me and my dream).  I measured and stirred and heated, and prayed.  Just one, I cried, just one successful attempt at making homemade rolls!

My heart started pounding when I saw that the dough had definitely not risen as much as the picture illustrated in my trusty cookbook, but I pressed on.  Actually, I punched on, ha.  I had tried to time things so that Jonah and Caleb would be arriving home when it was time to shape the dough into Cloverleaf Rolls, which worked beautifully.  They were happy to do something in the kitchen with me, and I had already done the real messy stuff ahead of time.  Win Win!  Plus, how fun is it to sit around waiting for dough that may or may not rise?  I think they appreciated the instant gratification part of rolling and shaping the rolls.  :)

They took their jobs very seriously!

ha, i'm looking at the background- why does inspiration always come on laundry days?

I'd promised Isabelle that she could help too, but it took several minutes to wake her up from her nap!  She's still recovering from last week!

i haven't been sleeping well at night lately- we both look rather drowsy

yummy!

look who's getting her big, bouncy curls back!  :)

Culinary

SUCCESS!!!

Does anyone else have issues with yeast?  I hope it's not just me....