Paula Deen Makes Me Laugh

The other day I came across a video of Paula Deen making brownies. Here's the recipe straight from Paula's website, written out.
You have to check this video out if you haven't yet seen it. It lasts about four minutes, but it's worth your time, I promise!
Go watch Paula Deen make Symphony Brownies. And listen for her to say stuff like "y'all" and "tin foil" and "up jumped the devil." Then laugh. I'm pretty sure I'm making these brownies just as soon as I can get away with it! Watch out, Karen and Brandon, you're probably the intended targets!

Naptime

Although this photo was taken when Caleb was staying with me a couple weeks ago (and still not feeling well), it fits this naptime story.
I'm late in posting today because today I was at Karen and Brandon's house. It was time for Caleb to take his nap so Brandon took Caleb into the bedroom and put him down. After a few minutes, Caleb started crying and crying. Brandon left the room and closed the door. Caleb continued to cry, loudly. After a few minutes, Karen went into the room (I had to go into the kitchen because I don't like to hear him crying! I always want to go rescue him). She came out a moment later and told me that it was no use, he wasn't going to stop crying. Do you want to know what he was saying while he was crying? I'll tell you anyway. "Nana! Nana! Nana!" Oh, it makes my heart so happy that he loves me that much! I went into his room and he immediately stopped crying and went right to sleep. Sweet boy.

Better Bread for Bud

Bud hasn't been liking my other bread for awhile, saying it was too gummy, so I quit making it and started buying it from the store again. I was buying Grandma Sycamore's bread (is that the right name? You can get it at Costco in a 2-pack) and that was too gummy for him also (but I liked it). In my fabulous little food storage book they have a recipe for whole wheat bread so I gave that a try. With the following name, it had to be good, yes? Yes. I made it with my Kitchen Aid mixer, just so I could see if it was doable for "normal" people who don't have a fancy bread-kneading machine.

Yummy Easy Whole Wheat Bread
Makes 5 medium loaves (I halved this recipe and made 2 loaves)

3 1/2 cups hot tap water
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
3 T. instant yeast (I use SAF)
2/3 cup oil
1 cup honey
1 cup white flour
3 T vital wheat gluten
12 cups whole wheat flour (8 cups of wheat should equal 12 cups flour)
1 1/2 T salt

Grind the wheat while getting everything else ready (if you have a grinder like mine- which used to be my mom's- it's super slow and noisy...I wonder what it would take for me to justify the purchase of a new one?)
Combine ingredients in the order given, mixing well after half the flour has been added (I didn't wait for the yeast to activate and it was fine).
Add the other half of the flour and the salt. If the dough is too sticky, add a little extra white flour. Knead in mixer for 8 minutes.
Pour a little oil on your countertop and spread it around with your hand. Remove dough from mixing bowl and form it into a long log. Divide into 5 loaves. Form each section into a loaf and place in non-stick bread pan.
Let rise in a warm place until almost desired bread size. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.
Remove from oven and pan and cool on wire rack, brushing top of hot loaves with butter.

Note: I did two rise-sessions. I let it rise once in the bowl, then I shaped it and let it rise again before baking it. I think I got a lighter loaf by doing it that way. Bud gave his stamp of approval on this loaf. I guess I'll have to start making bread again.

Canning Butter

I was going to type out what my little book said regarding the canning of butter, but I found this website and it says practically word for word what my book says. Hmm...who copied whom?

1. Use any butter that is on sale. Lesser quality butter requires more shaking (see #5 below), but the results are the same as with the expensive brands.

2. Heat pint jars in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes, without rings or seals. One pound of butter slightly more than fills one pint jar, so if you melt 11 pounds of butter, heat 12 pint jars. A roasting pan works well for holding the pint jars while in the oven.

3. While the jars are heating, melt butter slowly until it comes to a slow boil. Using a large spatula, stir the bottom of the pot often to keep the butter from scorching. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes at least: a good simmer time will lessen the amount of shaking required (see #5 below). Place the lids in a small pot and bring to a boil, leaving the lids in simmering water until needed.

4. Stirring the melted butter from the bottom to the top with a soup ladle or small pot with a handle, pour the melted butter carefully into heated jars through a canning jar funnel. Leave 3/4" of head space in the jar, which allows room for the shaking process.

5. Carefully wipe off the top of the jars, then get a hot lid from the simmering water, add the lid and ring and tighten securely. Lids will seal as they cool. Once a few lids "ping," shake while the jars are still warm, but cool enough to handle easily, because the butter will separate and become foamy on top and white on the bottom. In a few minutes, shake again, and repeat until the butter retains the same consistency throughout the jar.

6. At this point, while still slightly warm, put the jars into a refrigerator. While cooling and hardening, shake again, and the melted butter will then look like butter and become firm. This final shaking is very important! Check every 5 minutes and give the jars a little shake until they are hardened in the jar! Leave in the refrigerator for an hour.

7. Canned butter should store for 3 years or longer on a cool, dark shelf. [It does last a long time. We have just used up the last of the butter we canned in 1999, and it was fine after 5 years.] Canned butter does not "melt" again when opened, so it does not need to be refrigerated upon opening, provided it is used within a reasonable length of time.

Sundance Film Festival

Last night Bud and I went to the last of the Sundance Film Festival with some friends of ours who live in Park City. We saw two films, but we didn't see Robert anywhere around. The first was The Cove which is a documentary about the dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan. Although the movie was done well, the subject matter didn't sit well with me (or probably with anyone in the theater, as was their intention) and I wish I hadn't seen it. The second movie was An Education which was about a 16 year old girl in London in 1961 and her decisions regarding her education and whether to continue to pursue her dream of going to Oxford or to marry this somewhat older man who has shown her the glitzy and glammar of the lifestyle he lives. She eventually finds out he isn't exactly who or what he professes to be, and the bottom line is I wish I hadn't seen that movie either. The acting was done well, but the storyline was such that I was just too uncomfortable with it. From the moment he met her and offered her a ride when it was pouring rain I had a bad feeling about the guy. Turned out I was right. Is there anything uplifting out there anymore?

Food Storage- Eggs

In the food storage preparedness book I received last week it talked about preserving eggs, cheese and butter. I tried the suggestions on freezing eggs, just to see how it would work out.

After separating the yolk from the white, I divided the white into two ice cube sections and continued until I had separated four eggs. After I had the four yolks in the bowl, I added 1 1/2 tsp sugar (you can either use the sugar method OR add 1/8 tsp salt)) and beat it with a fork until the sugar was incorporated into the yolks. Then I divided the yolks into four sections of the tray.

After freezing, I removed the contents of the tray to a heavy ziploc freezer bag. When I'm ready to use the frozen egg, I'll thaw it overnight in the refrigerator, and hopefully I'll remember that I need two whites to every yolk! It was a little challenging to remove the eggs from the tray and I had to run the back of the tray under warm water before they popped out.
I showed the eggs to Karen while they were still in the tray. She thought it looked like pineapple juice and orange juice, and thought they looked tasty. When I told her it was eggs, she got a little grossed out.
I'll let you know how they work as soon as I use one or two.
P.S. The talk yesterday went well :)