Aromatherapy Revisited

As you read the title of this post you probably are thinking of the sweet and tempting smell of caramel wafting through the air, but the aroma in our house today as I baked a test batch of caramel rolls was far from sweet and definitely not tempting. This day will go down in the records as the first day Elsa has set off a smoke alarm.

This is how it happened. As the rolls baked, caramel bubbled inside each cup of the jumbo muffin tins I use to make evenly shaped rolls. Soon the caramel didn't just bubble inside the tins but overflowed onto the bottom of my oven. This has happened before leaving a puddle of charred butter and sugar, but today the puddle turned into a lake. I think I'll name it Smoke Lake for smoke it did! First my face was engulfed in a cloud as I opened the oven door to take the baked rolls out, then the whole main floor of our house was in a haze. Soon the smoke alarm was sending off its shrill alert. Windows were opened. The furnace kicked on as the chilly outside air hit the thermostat. A piece of clothing waiting to be ironed that happened to be sitting directly below the boisterous alarm was flapped around violently to clear the air in front of the asthmatic contraption.

This evening eleven sweet and tempting caramel rolls lay in our freezer ready for a special Sunday morning breakfast. The twelfth is in our kitchen inside a little baggy waiting for the overnight freshness test to be completed. All's well that ends well.

Aromatherapy

Yesterday as I grated orange peel, probably for the last time this season, our house was once again filled with the pungent smell of orange zest. Citrus sales are coming to an end and so are my zesting days. Throughout the winter months we have been eating "bald" oranges. Our joke is that shaved heads are the "in thing" in the world of oranges. All the "shavings" went into zip-lock bags which are tucked away in metal containers (a great use for those Christmas tins) and then put in the freezer. We learned the hard way that orange zest has to be stored tightly, or everything in the freezer will taste peculiarly like an orange. Now I have three tins full of orange zest. Soon it all will find its way into Cran-Orange Whole Wheat Bread... and then into the mouths of customers.

By the way, Cran-Orange Whole Wheat Bread was on the noon menu for my sister and me today. It was a day to use up odds and ends of different breads with chicken salad. Of all the bits of bread we tried for these sandwiches, Cran-Orange rated highest. There's just something about those cranberries with chicken. Mmmm...

Test Day

Whole Wheat French Bread anyone?

Who Hid the Vegetables?

Last weekend I was designated the official fetcher-of-vegetables. It may not look like it, but this is our vegetable freezer. July through autumn we watch the high water mark go up in this freezer as we pick, blanch, bag, and finally freeze the vegetables from our garden. By now half or more of our store has been devoured at many a meal, so there is lots of empty space in the freezer - well, sometimes. This also is home to many bread orders. Those who aren't able to get their order right after it's baked have me put it in the freezer until pick up time. This makes for fresh bread for my customers... and interesting digging for veggies.

The hot item here is Multigrain Bread. Multigrain Bread is my #1 best seller to regulars and the bread I serve my family whenever I want them to be especially happy. I'm starting to think I should have given it a different name - something like Our Daily Bread.

On Monday digging for vegetables became easier as the order moved out. This wasn't to last. Now I could take a new picture of the freezer. This time it's covered with a layer of Whole Wheat French Boule.

Impulse Shopping

Normally I hold a stand of no impulse shopping, but last Friday was an exception. I'd had in mind for a while that it would be nice to have my own refrigerator or freezer, but decided this was not the year to make such a buy. Small purchases were on my list this spring. That is until we went shopping for a new microwave oven to replace our 30 year old microwave that was dead (at least we thought it was dead, but that's another story) and found the store was having a scratch and dent sale.

Instead of just a fridge or freezer, I got a combo deal (otherwise known as a regular kitchen fridge/freezer). This was perfect timing, because soon "barm" (sourdough starter) will have to be increased. Two large containers of it were quite enough to make milk and surplus garden produce rather difficult to fit in. Hooray for more fridge space!

Finalized Plans

Today is another "bready" day. To fill out an order I have been baking French Batard and Granola. The bread will go into the freezer for delivery next Tuesday, and some of the granola will be packaged up in 1 lb. bags. Left over granola will go into the pantry for Dad's breakfasts. Besides making this order I have 6 loaves of Cran-Orange Whole Wheat Bread and 1 loaf of Dill-Onion Bread in the proofing rack and ovens. More experimenting.

Farmer's market plans are now finalized! Market #2 will be in Sabin, MN. The start up date is June 20th, just ten days after start up in Pelican Rapids. This will be the second year for this market, both for me and for the whole farmer's market. Being just a baby, the market is still small but has lots of potential. Know anyone with wares to sell?

Better run. My ovens will be calling soon.