I made Cinnamon Rolls for Christmas Breakfast. I made a double batch and did it all by hand. They were really good! I had posted about them on Farmsteadstudio.blogspot.com, but I neglected to update with a photo of them once they were done. By the time I remembered, they were long gone.
Yesterday, I started to get a longing for homemade bread. Over the years I have made mountains of bread, big mountains of bread. Since it was our day off, I put my mixer to use and whipped up a batch! I think however, that I had grown accustom to the easy life. I have, in recent years, used a bread machine that I rescued from the thrift shop to make bread. I also have gotten used to buying a loaf from the store more often than not! In fact the bread machine is tucked away in an upstairs closet! I didn't feel like going upstairs to get it, so I instead, used my mixer, which can handle such things, though I hadn't done that very many times, and not in recent memory.
I pulled out an old favorite recipe and got to work. I did not notice, however that the dough was not quite firm enough until it was too late! I also got impatient and popped the loaves in the oven before they were ready. The results were disappointing! So disappointing in fact that I refused to take a picture. I think you can imagine the bricks that resulted.
This morning, I started again. First thing I mixed up the dough, even before I went out to feed. I set the oven on low and nested the dough bowl above it on a rack so that it would not touch the surface, just receive the beneficial heat. I set the timer for 45 minutes, and went out to feed.
Once I came in from the barn, I set to work on a list of all the weaving related things I need to get done in the next week or so. The list is long. My goal is to get all my looms loaded and in working order before the month of January is over. I know that I still have to do the weaving, but having all the looms loaded will be a huge plus in this Studio!
I had already wound a warp for either the Cambridge Rug loom or the 8 harness loom I had been having so much trouble with, I decided to use the 8 harness, so that I could see if the problems had been resolved. I will only use the first 4 harnesses, and If I run into trouble with harness' 1 and 2, I can rethread using 2 of the other harness. The warp that I had wound, is the Hollywood Rug warp, cut down to placemat size. Since I did a warp chain for each of the three colors, the only way to tackle this baby is front to back.
I began by putting all of the different color warp chains on the lease sticks, in no particular order.
Then I started with the first bundle on the right. I began loading it into the reed, following my chart. This first color is the most important, if I mess it up, I will have some rethreading to do. It went on fairly easily until I realized I needed a few more threads to complete the placemat!
About that time my timer went off, and I went downstairs to the kitchen to check the bread in it's first rising. Hmm, I thought, it looks pretty good, maybe it is ready. Then I remembered the bricks from last night! I set the timer for another 15 minutes, and went back up to wind those warp threads I needed.
I ran across a new weaving blog the other day, weavingforfun.blogspot.com , I learned a couple of new tricks from it in just a few minutes reading. One of the tricks was using sock loopers to control a warp chain. So I tried it out, I am sure with a thicker chain it will be much more impressive! The loopers hold incredibly well!
I chained this baby off just as the timer went off a second time. This time I was satisfied that the dough had risen quite enough, and it was ready for a good old fashioned punch down! I divided the dough in half and let it rest a few minutes.
Already it even smells better than last nights batch. After those few minutes I formed the dough into loaves, and placed them again in their cocoon of warmth.
I covered them, and set the timer for 45 minutes and returned to the 8 harness loom, ready to finish the first color and move on to the next one.
The next 2 colors went on easily, and before you know it I was done!
I know that this looks a mess, but once the heddles are threaded, and I have tied on to the back the lease sticks will come off, and it will all lay straight. I may reinsert the lease sticks using the harnesses to find the "cross" before I wind on. I haven't done that before, but it sounds like it might be a good idea!
The timer went off again, so I went to check our progress.
That is looking a little better, but I think I will turn on the oven and set the timer for another 10 minutes, before they go into the oven. Once they were in, I set the timer for 35 minutes, and went back to the Studio to start the threading. While I was threading I began to smell the aroma of fresh baked bread wafting up the stairwell and all through the Studio. I went back down when the timer rang, but I let it cook another 5 minutes before I brought it out. I was so hungry, but I was going to wait it out until the bread was cool enough to slice. I was going to have some warm PB and J for lunch, there would be no substitutes.
About that time Dear One came home to bring me the laptop, so that I could do my blog posts. Yeah! He had a couple of things to take care of before he left, so that he was here when I make my 1/2 sandwich. Once I was sure that it was divine, I asked him if he wanted a tiny bite. He was delighted to sample! He took a huge bite, most of the 1/2 sandwich in fact! I don't know what else I was expecting, do you? He agreed that it was wonderful bread, and we decided that bread was not evil, and we were going to embrace the carbs from hence forth! (At least the home made Whole Wheat ones!)
Now, back to the loom. I began to thread from the front of the reed, but it was a little awkward, so I switched to the back of the loom. I haven't progressed very far in this next picture, but I intend to finish the threading and begin the winding on today.
Today has been a productive day, 2 beautiful loaves of bread, a loom threaded and getting ready to wind it on.
Now that is better!
Until the next time, Happy Weaving, Tina
P. S. Don't forget to watch us on Live at Five at Four if you are in the WBIR viewing area!
Yesterday, I started to get a longing for homemade bread. Over the years I have made mountains of bread, big mountains of bread. Since it was our day off, I put my mixer to use and whipped up a batch! I think however, that I had grown accustom to the easy life. I have, in recent years, used a bread machine that I rescued from the thrift shop to make bread. I also have gotten used to buying a loaf from the store more often than not! In fact the bread machine is tucked away in an upstairs closet! I didn't feel like going upstairs to get it, so I instead, used my mixer, which can handle such things, though I hadn't done that very many times, and not in recent memory.
I pulled out an old favorite recipe and got to work. I did not notice, however that the dough was not quite firm enough until it was too late! I also got impatient and popped the loaves in the oven before they were ready. The results were disappointing! So disappointing in fact that I refused to take a picture. I think you can imagine the bricks that resulted.
This morning, I started again. First thing I mixed up the dough, even before I went out to feed. I set the oven on low and nested the dough bowl above it on a rack so that it would not touch the surface, just receive the beneficial heat. I set the timer for 45 minutes, and went out to feed.
Once I came in from the barn, I set to work on a list of all the weaving related things I need to get done in the next week or so. The list is long. My goal is to get all my looms loaded and in working order before the month of January is over. I know that I still have to do the weaving, but having all the looms loaded will be a huge plus in this Studio!
I had already wound a warp for either the Cambridge Rug loom or the 8 harness loom I had been having so much trouble with, I decided to use the 8 harness, so that I could see if the problems had been resolved. I will only use the first 4 harnesses, and If I run into trouble with harness' 1 and 2, I can rethread using 2 of the other harness. The warp that I had wound, is the Hollywood Rug warp, cut down to placemat size. Since I did a warp chain for each of the three colors, the only way to tackle this baby is front to back.
I began by putting all of the different color warp chains on the lease sticks, in no particular order.
Then I started with the first bundle on the right. I began loading it into the reed, following my chart. This first color is the most important, if I mess it up, I will have some rethreading to do. It went on fairly easily until I realized I needed a few more threads to complete the placemat!
About that time my timer went off, and I went downstairs to the kitchen to check the bread in it's first rising. Hmm, I thought, it looks pretty good, maybe it is ready. Then I remembered the bricks from last night! I set the timer for another 15 minutes, and went back up to wind those warp threads I needed.
I ran across a new weaving blog the other day, weavingforfun.blogspot.com , I learned a couple of new tricks from it in just a few minutes reading. One of the tricks was using sock loopers to control a warp chain. So I tried it out, I am sure with a thicker chain it will be much more impressive! The loopers hold incredibly well!
I covered them, and set the timer for 45 minutes and returned to the 8 harness loom, ready to finish the first color and move on to the next one.The next 2 colors went on easily, and before you know it I was done!
The timer went off again, so I went to check our progress.
About that time Dear One came home to bring me the laptop, so that I could do my blog posts. Yeah! He had a couple of things to take care of before he left, so that he was here when I make my 1/2 sandwich. Once I was sure that it was divine, I asked him if he wanted a tiny bite. He was delighted to sample! He took a huge bite, most of the 1/2 sandwich in fact! I don't know what else I was expecting, do you? He agreed that it was wonderful bread, and we decided that bread was not evil, and we were going to embrace the carbs from hence forth! (At least the home made Whole Wheat ones!)
Now, back to the loom. I began to thread from the front of the reed, but it was a little awkward, so I switched to the back of the loom. I haven't progressed very far in this next picture, but I intend to finish the threading and begin the winding on today.
Today has been a productive day, 2 beautiful loaves of bread, a loom threaded and getting ready to wind it on.
Now that is better!
Until the next time, Happy Weaving, Tina
P. S. Don't forget to watch us on Live at Five at Four if you are in the WBIR viewing area!
1 comment:
If you want to see the segment, go to http://www.wbir.com/life/programming/local/liveatfive/default.aspx
You may have to do a bit of searching but the link is there for our 2 minutes of fame!
Carol
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