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domestic wannabe.....


so, i've blogged about trying to simplify our life. well, that has me attempting to create a bit of a haven here at home. i wouldn't say i'm doing it all that well, but i'm trying to make a few small changes here and there.

one of those changes has been a return to baking! i love to bake - always have, but due to health issues i've cut back. but i've been researching healthier recipes so i'm trying to bake in a healthy way.

last week i made pumpkin oatmeal cookies with cinnamon chips. they were yummy!! very yummy!! but i only used 1/2 of my giant can of pumpkin. working on being frugal as well, and not wasteful, i covered the can and stuck it in the fridge. well, today i knew i needed to use that pumpkin up.

it was a rare day for me. a lazy morning, a wonderful time of coffee with a friend, and an afternoon home alone. i cranked up the country - i tend to enjoy sassy country music and like to sing and dance along with it! it seemed like the perfect day to try out a new recipe for pumpkin cinnamon rolls!!!

so i get out all my ingredients....well, to start with i dumped my yeast in. guess what, i was supposed to sprinkle the yeast on top of the warm water. that seems stupid, but i scrape the yeast out of the bowl into another one and dump in warm water. then i sprinkle the yeast. it doesn't seem like it really sprinkles, but whatever...

the next step was to add sugar and let it foam. so i checked in the ingredients. 2 tsp. plus 1 tablespoon...so i start with my table spoon and dump it in. THEN i notice i was only supposed to put in 1 tsp to let it foam. geesh. has it been that long since i've baked. and noone is calling my name even. oscar the dog is patiently snoring at my feet. well...surely the extra sugar will still let it foam. so i add the rest and it is moving along just fine!

enter the flour....being healthy, i mix it half wheat half white. i'm to add it gradually and scrape the sides. so i begin to add the flour and all is going good. but now my drama begins....

let me set the stage - i have this wonderful hand mixer. it is the 4th one i've owned since our wedding 11 years ago. does that tell you how much i love hand mixers? oh..this mixer and i - we have a love-hate relationship, okay mostly a hate-hate relationship.

so i'm mixing joyfully along, and honestly trying to coax this wonderful mixer through the dough process! well, before i know it, remember i've only added about 2 cups of flour at this point, pumpkin batter is flying around the room. oscar, has awakened and feasting on the floor, cabinets, and fridge door. i stop the machine and realize the batter is now oozing down the handle - not the beaters - the handle folks. i even found some on my kitchen table...a good 6 feet away from the counter! so i clean it off, stir with a spoon, and insert beaters again. that was stupid! same thing!! argh...clean again, stir with spoon, curse at the stupid mixer, pray over stupid mixer, insert beaters again. still a stupid idea!! batter is flying everywhere. and now, i have smoke coming out of my mixer. great!!

so i turn it off and gently set it down. i couldn't even get the beaters ejected. have i told you i loved this machine? how wonderful it is. that we have a deep bond? i didn't think so....


by now, i'm thinking - even out loud, i think i'll blog about this. maybe some dear soul will have one of these (the beautiful machine to the right) sitting on their counter just waiting for a loving home and it will magically appear on my counter. i grabbed my neti pot and tried to use it as a genie, but it still doesn't seem to work for that - just cleaning sinuses.

so i take off my wedding ring, rinse my hands, and plunge in. once the flour was mixed in i was supposed to kneed for 10 minutes.....do you know how long it took me to mix the flour in with my hands before i could even begin to kneed this now very stupid dough?!!? 15 minutes later i'm done kneeding. the dough is set to rise and life goes on...or atleast the kitchen gets cleaned...

the rest of the process was actually rather soothing. i punched the dough, rolled it, smothered it with cinnamony goodness, rolled it up, cut them out and delivered 2 batches to friends.

so what did i learn? well, i really do enjoy baking, but still don't like my hand mixer. i like blessing someone (although since i haven't baked ours i have no idea if they taste good or not). i also enjoyed the process - even in the chaos.

and i still long for a simple life. the days where i can be at home working for my family and days when i'm there for my friends....and the ladies from the good old days must have had amazingly strong arms to do all that mixing by hand!

i'll let you know if the rolls are good.....i sure hope so:)

UPDATE:
the rolls - well they were just so-so to me...mapboy ate 2. they were good, just seemed a little less flakey than what i had hoped. i wonder if that had anything to do with the fact that i didn't sprinkle correctly, let them foam with a tad more sugar than called for in the foaming process, and that i had to beat it by hand??? things that make you go hmm...

Comments

keepin' it real..... said…
this makes me smile, friend!

maybe you can ask for a mixer for Christmas :)
November 10, 2009 at 1:04 PM
Kevin Flick said…
come on pioneer woman! pick chris' name! and give us a heads up when you are doing a contest! :)
November 10, 2009 at 8:00 PM
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