Tips for working with yeast dough

I've had many failures when it comes to baking yeast-based (and wheat flour) items! Over the years, here are some tips I've found to be helpful:

1) Ensure the yeast is fresh!
When you start a dough recipe, use warm water (not hot) and stir in yeast granules. Within a few minutes, they should become foamy. If they don't become foamy within about 10 minutes, toss it and buy fresh yeast before starting again.

2) Mix it, mix it real good.
I've been reading recently about how long a person should actually mix the dough. I used to mix until all of the ingredients were thoroughly combined, but I've been experimenting with mixing the dough for extended periods of time, like 10+ minutes. This is supposed to help with gluten development. If you're geeky like me, look into the "window pane" technique. The dough will be very smooth, will not be sticking to the sides of the bowl, but remains soft.

3) Warm is best!
Start with warm water and find a warm place for the dough to rise. My Kitchen Aid mixing bowl fits nicely into my microwave, so as I mix the dough, I heat up a mug of water to create steam inside the microwave. I put my mixing bowl, uncovered, into the nuker beside the steamy water, and set the timer for 45 minutes. At that point, I take the dough out, heat up the water again, and let the dough rise for another 15 minutes.

Also, when I make buns, I place oven-safe bowls full of steaming water in the bottom of the oven. This creates another warm, steamy area for the buns to rise for the second rising.

4) Give it time!
Don't rush! Take the time to let the yeast do its thing. Mix and knead thoroughly. Give it time to rise and if one hour isn't enough (assuming the yeast you used is fresh and active), give it another 30 minutes. Don't rush the second rise. Give the buns plenty of time to get fluffy. And take the buns out of the oven before preheating the oven!

Book Suggestions

I've recently gone on a book-reading kick... Maybe it's the warmer weather. I don't do well in hot weather, so I need to find low-energy activities. I've read many talented Christian authors, but at some point, it gets tiresome to read boy-meets-girl type stories. 

I will say, the Baxter family series by Karen Kingsbury does address many stages of a relationship, the ups and downs, not just the excitement of meeting someone new, culminating in a wedding day. To get the complete list of Baxter family series (multiple series): http://www.karenkingsbury.com/#!baxters/c1jop

I put out the word to my Facebook friends that I needed book ideas that were not based in the chase! Here's what was suggested. I've already read some, not all on the list are by Christian authors, and the Winnipeg Public Library has many of them! Comments in black below are from the person that suggested the book. My comments are in colour.

Secret Daughter (Shilpi Somaya Gowda) I wasn't sure if I could read a story about adoption, being busy living it and all... The author touches on key factors in adoption for each of the characters in a genuine way. If you prefer to read only Christian-based books, this one isn't for you, as it deals with the Hindu faith, temples, shrines, yoga, etc. It's a "clean" story; no foul language or salacious content, but it does deal with shocking examples of inequality between men and women. I enjoyed this book and I recommend it!

Three Day Road (Joseph Boyden) A vast departure from what I typically read! But it is a timely book that exposes the crushing nature of residential schools and the horrors of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse inflicted on Indigenous children. The story takes place during WWI and a majority portion of the book describes the living-nightmare that is war. It's a very spiritual book (Indigenous, not Christian), contains a few graphic sexual encounters, some foul language, but the question I often ask myself is "Is the journey worth navigating the potholes" and for me, for this book, I'd say yes. I couldn't put this one down.

A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini) I'm trying to absorb and process this book. If I was looking for a departure from a certain genre, this one achieved it! Afghanistan. Islam. The Koran. Definitely not what I've been reading to this point! Excellent book. Well-written. I recommend it!

The Swiss Courier (Mike Yorkey & Tricia Goyer) This is very much the type of book I've been looking for! The story takes place during WWII and reminded me of "All The Light We Cannot See". It's true to the fear, confusion, and horrors of war, but not very graphic, besides the one scene. I can't stomach torture, and I skipped parts of the one section and hoped the book wouldn't continue with quite so much detail. It didn't get as specific about the interrogation methods, but it's an interestingly detailed book that revolves around science, airplanes, German and Swiss geography. I enjoyed the spy story lines, wondering who were the "good guys" and who was double-crossing who (whom?). It also reminded me of "All The Light" in the way it discussed the at-the-time undesirable Jews and it led me to consider how people might have similar attitudes in this current era; the views that were accepted or ignored that snowballed into inhumane actions against particular groups and cultures. I recommend this book, and it's a bonus to have some experience with the High German language.

Deep Down Dark (Hector Tobar). I thought it would be fascinating to read about the 33 Chilean miners that were trapped underground for more than sixty days back in 2010. It took me a minute to get into it because it is so character heavy! There are thirty-three miners, their wives or girlfriends (or both!), their kids, the government team, the drilling team, and so on. That's a lot of names to keep straight! A few chapters in, I put the book down, but got the movie. After watching the movie, I decided to give the book another go and it was easier to read. Many of the books I'm reading this summer are not "Christian", and this one isn't either. It's a great reference to learn many Spanish swear words though! Ha! It was, however, loaded with spirituality as many during this crisis relied on prayer and in reading the book, I would say it's pretty clear that God was protecting the men and orchestrated the survival and rescue. In my opinion anyway! Usually I prefer a book OR a movie, but in this case, I appreciated having both at the same time. 

Island Justice (Elizabeth Winthrop) This wasn't a suggestion from a friend, but as a family, we've read Castle in the Attic by this author and I was curious to read another one of her titles. I actually don't recommend this book, but I felt it was part of my reading adventure. I might be bored of cookie-cutter Christian novels, but I sure missed those familiar morals when reading this book! While I find "Christ" in much of what I read, this book used it in a different context. And just what things and how often does God literally damn something? Okay, so I'm making a joke, but sheesh, what's with all the language? And so much casual sex. Yeah, I get it, that's the real world, but it gets tiresome when various forms of entertainment use sexual activity in place of other types of communication. This book left me wishing for that elusive genre of interesting AND Christian novels. Thankfully I've got many more titles to try!

Family of Jesus (Karen Kingsbury) This one took me by surprise in that I didn't like it! I've read many Karen Kingsbury books and I just couldn't read this one. Part of what I struggled with was (while there is so much cultural conflict about race and an emphasis on the need to be aware of other groups of people) feeling like this book was written in a very current, modern, American way. I didn't feel like I was reading about an ancient set of people that related to each other in a 2000 year-old way. The way the characters spoke to each other and interacted just felt so current. And that ended up with me feeling like this precious story of Jesus' life was way too casual, and I didn't want to continue reading just in case the telling of His birth, death, and resurrection would feel equally as un-magnificent. Maybe I'll come back to this one at a later time.

One friend recommended anything by Dave and Neta Jackson. I've read and very much enjoyed two of the series, but there's another one I hadn't heard of, but found this handy-dandy list that suggests which books to read in which order: http://www.daveneta.com/support-pages/series-relate.html I felt like I was reading the House of Hope series in fast-forward when I read "Lucy Come Home". The series takes the time to introduce the characters and their story lines but this spin-off book throws in a sentence or short paragraph here and there about various individuals and their lives and it sometimes felt too brief and too abrupt. Maybe I should have read this book while I was reading the series, which was a few years ago. Half of the book was in the present day and half of it was in the past, and the portions about Lucy's past was very fascinating! I loved the two series I read by these authors, and I enjoyed this book enough to keep reading it and wanting to find out what happened to the characters. I'm not sure this would be a good stand-alone book, so if you're curious to try it, read it in conjunction with the other books in the series.

Not Christian, but very interesting are "Snowflower and The Secret Fan" by Lisa See (set in China during the time foot binding was practiced). Unrelatable. Set in a different era, in a different country, with different traditions, all of which I completely can not relate to. But that was what kept me turning the pages! What fascination and horror reading the details of the footbinding tradition; almost feeling the toes break as she was forced to walk on her tightly wrapped feet. It was difficult to read so many instances of men beating their women, as the book says, in a way that is accepted and common. I found this book to be dark and heavy, but yet I was looking for a departure from the typical genres I've been stuck in, so mission accomplished!

All the light we cannot see" by Anthony Doerr - that's the first of his I've read; people in my book club love his books. I attempted to read this book a few months ago and the short chapters made no sense to me! I got two chapters deep and returned it to the library. But, upon a suggestion of a friend, I gave it another go. Turns out, the short chapters are a blessing. The book spares none of the real-life gore of war, although it is written without graphic detail, and often one or two chapters was about as much as I could stomach in one day. To add to the intensity of the book, besides knowing that there are actual human beings that experienced these challenges and made the same decisions as the characters in this fictional book, I had to consider what is being said about a particular current presidential candidate. Is it truly a stretch to think that a very popular yet controversial individual could have parallels to Hitler himself, and how many individuals stood by passively, making way for the hate and hell to grow, and is that what is happening right now? I'll leave it as a question and allow you to form your own opinions on that. I recommend this book, but it's not going to be one that you can blast through in one weekend.

Peacemakers series (Anna Schmidt); set during WW2 I just finished book 1 of 3... Another page-turner! Yes, it includes a guy-meets-girl story line, but the other story elements are more dominant, in my opinion. I would recommend this book and have already requested the next one from the library. AND, I have discovered a new author that I haven't heard of before.

Does She Know She's There? (Nicola Schaefer) A local (Winnipeg) woman's journey with her special needs daughter. The intro of the book is written more recently than the first chapters of the book and the author does explain that, at the time, the use of the R-word was common and it is used in the book frequently. As time passes, the author drops the use of the word. It was interesting to read how there were so few resources for special needs families at one time, and facilities were sterile and institutional. It sounds like Ms. Schaefer has been instrumental in making significant changes in Manitoba for families like hers. 

The Harmony Series (and the Hope Series) is all about a Quaker pastor in a small town and the relationships with his congregation. It has made me giggle and laugh out loud a lot. It's definitely a very light read. It's written by Philip Gulley. 

Smallpox, Syphillis and Salvation (medical breakthroughs that changed the world)

Border Town (Shen Congwen)

The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)

A Year in Provence (Peter Mayle) Non-fiction

German Boy: A Child in War (Wolfgang W.E. Samuel) Non-fiction

And the Mountains Echoed (Khaled Hosseini) I liked The Kite Runner and A Thousand

Splendid Suns more than this one, but it was still good.

Bonhoeffer (Eric Metaxis) Long, but worth a read

Divine (Karen Kingsbury)

Unlocked (Karen Kingsbury)

Friends of Jesus (Karen Kingsbury)

Atonement Child (Francine Rivers)

Redeeming Love (Francine Rivers)

By the Light of a Thousand Stars (Jamie Langston Turner)

No Dark Valley (Jamie Langston Turner)

Sometimes a Light Surprises (Jamie Langston Turner)

Thai Curry Chicken

Updated December 16, 2019: This is no longer on Pinterest! I am very relieved to have made a copy! This is one of my most often used recipes.

A Pinterest keeper! This is a delicious meal with both chicken or shrimp. I'm posting it here with my own personal changes, originally found on the Susannah's Kitchen blog.

There are two ways to do this, one quick, one slow. The quick version includes either pre-cooked chicken or shrimp; the slow version includes cooking the meat.

2 Tbsp coconut oil

2 Tbsp red Thai curry paste
1/2 large yellow onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 x 13.5oz can coconut milk

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 red bell pepper

1/2 cup fresh green beans or sliced carrots

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 small deli-roasted chicken, warmed, cut up

1/2 lime, freshly squeezed

Fresh Thai basil *

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the red Thai curry paste. Stir for a minute to release the curry's aromas, then add the garlic and onion. When they're translucent, add the coconut milk and brown sugar. Stir to combine.

Add the bell pepper and green beans or carrots. Cook vegetables on low until al dente, stirring occasionally. Add the warm roasted chicken or precooked shrimp and fresh lime juice right before serving. 

Garnish with basil and serve with Jasmine rice.

Serves 2-4.

Notes:

*Google tells me that if Thai basil isn't available, a small piece of star aniseed works. I like to combine the sauce ingredients and let it simmer with the aniseed in it to really blend the flavours.

Nutella Cookie Balls

I actually have Nutella in the house so I'm trying to find the "perfect" experimental recipe. I want to try a variation on the peanut butter cookie balls recipe we all love.

1 cup dry oatmeal

2/3 cup unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup Nutella

1/2 cup ground flaxseed or wheat germ

1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

1 Tbsp chia seeds (optional)
2 Tbsp melted coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour. Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like. (Mine were about 1" in diameter.) Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to one week.

Makes 20-25 pieces.

Notes:
I usually roll the peanut butter balls but these I had to kinda squeeze and press into shape.