"Rising" to the Occasion...or Having fun with Yeast Dough!

  It is quite obvious that I love to bake.  I find it one of the more relaxing things I do. My mornings just do not feel complete if there is not either something in the oven or bread dough rising on the old wood stove. My problem is not the baking but finding enough folks to eat everything!  I take it for granted that if I bake, someone will want it.  I am now on a bread baking kick which all started when my daughter gave me a recipe for vegan yeast bread.  This stuff is just so good!  What started as basic rolls has now grown into a vast variety of baked goods using the same basic dough recipe.

  This morning, I whipped together the basic dough and set it on the old stove to do its rising.  About noontime, the dough had doubled in size and was ready to be formed into loaves or rolls or whatever struck my fancy.  My son, Michael came in from doing chores and started helping in the kitchen.  Our brains started working overtime as we played with the dough.  First came some cheese filled mini muffins.  Then some bacon/cheese filled mini muffins.  These bite-sized goodies were to be late night snacks for him (if the lasted that long!).  Then a brilliant idea hit!  Broccoli!  Yep, broccoli!  I had picked two nice sized heads of broccoli from the garden and needed to use it, so broccoli made it into the bread.  The dough was rolled flat and loaded with diced broccoli bits and some freshly grated mozzarella cheese.  Once it was laden, the dough was rolled into a log and sliced into two inch chunks. A bit of spices were sprinkled on top for good measure!  These were allowed to rise again before baking.  Oh, my goodness!  That kitchen never smelled so good than when those things were in the oven!  Our baking experience did not end there.  The double batch of dough was enough to make a bunch of goodies!  Last on the list was what I want to call "Apple Twist".  This goody is not only tasty but really sort of pretty!  A drizzling of caramel sauce before baking this made it moist, gooey and sweet! 

  Since finishing all of these delectable goodies, I have been inundated with requests for the recipes.  I do not usually follow exact written recipes so I will have to remake everything tomorrow and try to keep a record of what I do.  If you are interested, check the "Cooking on the Bayou" tab above sometime tomorrow.  Hopefully, I will have some added recipes for you!