Whole wheat rolls (TWD: BwJ)

I seem to be in a once-per-month swing with TWD, but such is the busy life of the beginning of the school year. I was happy to see that one of the September recipes was a nice, easy bread. I know bread baking stresses some people out, but it requires so much less attention and thought than some fancy-schmancy dessert; it's just perfect for me for this time of year. :-)

This whole wheat dough was gorgeous and so easy to work with.....I only had 13 ounces of whole wheat flour, so I used white whole wheat for the other 2 ounces required, and I used bread flour for the rest. Using the info at the beginning of the book, I weighed out the flour, using 5 ounces for each cup of flour. The measurements were just perfect; I didn't have to add anything else.

Because I needed to start making school lunches, I decided to make rolls for lunch sandwiches. My little guy is in his first few days of kindergarten. (sniff) I made nine 3 1/2 ounce rolls and then froze the other half of the dough to use some week when I'm too busy to bake.

My kindergartener. (And apparently the only picture I managed to get of this bread.)

Unfortunately, my little guy didn't like the bread. He hates honey with a passion, and could even detect the small amount in this bread. So I ended up making simple white whole wheat buns for his school lunches. But luckily, hubby and I thought the flavor of the bread was outstanding, and hubby happily ate the rest of the buns for his school lunches for the remainder of the week.

Check out the recipe here: Michele from Veggie Num Nums and Teresa of  The Family That Bakes Together

Popovers! (TWD: BwJ)

I was not all that excited for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe; I think I've only ever had popovers once, the one time I baked them before, and I wasn't that impressed.
But it couldn't be an easier recipe: toss flour, salt, melted butter, warm milk, and eggs into a blender (I was careful to be sure that my milk and eggs were both warm). Pour 1/4 cup into some buttered muffin cups (I did preheat my pan, given some comments on the P&Q). Bake. Eat. Seemed like it would be silly not to try the recipe.

And I really enjoyed them! We ate them warm and buttered, spread with the last of my strawberry-honey jam, with our eggs. Delish!

Check out the rest of the TWDers' experiences here, and check our hosts' pages for the recipe: Paula and Amy....or better yet, buy the book! :-)

Blueberry and nectarine pie (TWD: BwJ)

I'm back, just in time for the third and final Tuesday of July! I missed the first two July Tuesdays with Dorie recipes of the month (semolina bread and hazelnut biscotti) because we were on our annual three week trip out West to visit my in-laws.

Luckily July has three Tuesdays, and we got back just in time for blueberry and nectarine pie.

The crust and I didn't get along fabulously, but that was mostly my fault: the dough calls for butter and shortening, but I don't keep shortening in the house. I used all butter, with a little extra water...but the dough was still too dry and crumbly. It actually got easier after it warmed up a bit, and I was able to roll it out.

The filling was easy to make, with fresh blueberries and nectarines, half of which were cooked down first. After adding the top crust, I froze the pie according to the recipe directions. I only froze it for a day, but I wanted to be able to enjoy it fresh at the cabin.

At the cabin, I painted an egg wash, sprinkled coarse sugar on the top, and cut slits. Then I baked it for about 60 minutes.

The pie was a huge hit, especially with a little vanilla ice cream. I found it runnier than my favorite blueberry pie recipe (NM's), and I prefer pie with only one crust, but this was still a fabulous dessert. Our hosts this week are: http://thatskinnychickcanbake.blogspot.com/ and http://manchegoskitchen.typepad.com/

(Wrote post via phone from the cabin, so will have to fix formatting/links when we get home.....)