Friday, January 18, 2008

Scratch Week Details



Ok, so I know all of you have been on the edge of your seats waiting for the Scratch Week update. :) I have to say it has been easier than I thought it would be, mainly because we are allowed to use canned goods. At first I was imagining having to make everything from ketchup to butter. Really the biggest differences are homemade bread products and powdered milk. Oh, and not being able to use electrical appliances.


Here are a few pictures to tell the story of our week. Here I was making tortillas, the dough was "resting" at this point before taking each one and rolling it out. The stuff in the measuring bowl is homemade hot chocolate mix.
Dennis helped roll out several of the tortillas. They were more work than opening a bag from the store, but they sure are tasty! We feel a real ownership of this food we've been making this week and have been threatening our children within an inch of their lives to "eat it, eat all of it. Don't you know how long that took me to make?!?"
Here I am being vain and taking a picture of myself with my tortillas.
And this is my secret to rolling out the dough: stand on a stool. I am so short I just can't get any leverage on that rolling pin when I stand on the floor. And I also highly recommend wearing comfortable shoes when spending lots of time standing on a tile floor. From the way I'm talking you'd think that I believe my one week of scratch cooking makes me an expert or something! Don't worry about that, I couldn't get my dinner roll dough to rise.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds yummy!
B

Pat VE said...

Sounds like you have great teachers and experiences to learn this scratch stuff. Once in a great while I would make bread. Dad asked me at the supper table if I'd gone shopping for my birthday present yet. I asked him what it is, and he said a bread maker. Sweet! Mom

Pat VE said...

Sounds like you have great teachers and experiences to learn this scratch stuff. Once in a great while I would make bread. Dad asked me at the supper table if I'd gone shopping for my birthday present yet. I asked him what it is, and he said a bread maker. Sweet! Mom

Jean said...

Tortillas sound pretty good. Did you make them with wheat or corn flour.

Some time ago I bought some corn flour to make some but so far I haven't done it.

Yeast dough that won't rise is one thing that can be very frustrating. Too rich a dough is always slow to rise. You can add a little extra yeast which helps some. I always put the dough in a dish in the oven and then put another dish of hot water in the oven to give it some warm humidity. The oven is not on.

have a good day.

Jean said...

Tortillas sound pretty good. Did you make them with wheat or corn flour.

Some time ago I bought some corn flour to make some but so far I haven't done it.

Yeast dough that won't rise is one thing that can be very frustrating. Too rich a dough is always slow to rise. You can add a little extra yeast which helps some. I always put the dough in a dish in the oven and then put another dish of hot water in the oven to give it some warm humidity. The oven is not on.

have a good day.

Anonymous said...

Sounds exciting! I am so glad all went well! Glad mom gets a bread maker and thanks for the tips, Aunt Jean! One thing we love about Houston is REAL tortillas you can get lots of places. YUM!

Sabrina said...

We do the water in the oven trick to, but we turn theoven on first, just to warm, then turn it off before you put your goodies in there to rise.
I was also told a damp towel helps, but I haven't been brave enough to try that one!

glad the week has been a good one... are you going to stay on the scratch program, or are you rapidly converting back to the bread maker!!

David and Amy Campsall said...

I learned to make bread from scratch after we married.. it's fun enough.. i was making all our bread for a while.. but have slowed down to a crawl now with the kids come along. I have a multigrain health bread recipie that makes 4 loaves at a time and is pretty healthy if you're interested. Hope you enjoyed the week and gained some insights for years to come.. my 2 cents on the bread rising was to put it in the oven with the light on.. gives us some heat to help with the rising.I often grease the top with a little olive oil so it doesn't dry out. I got your comment on my blog and commented on your comment if you're interested:) haha. Ok I don't comment enough on here but I always look:)It's nice to keep up with you.. maybe next time we're in the area I'll do a friends loop around the south. We did old friends in sudbury and dave's brother and then on to timmins to my parents and matheson etc.(pretty well the north:)Hope this semester is encouraging an a blessing!
God's blessings

Amy