ciabatta rolls ~

It's been awhile since I made Ciabatta Rolls ~ what was I thinking!  They're soooooo good :)

I believe the trick to good Ciabatta Rolls is the two day process.  Day One is making a starter ~ then Day Two is finishing up the process of making the rolls.

Here's my recipe:

Day 1

In a small bowl combine the following to make your Starter:

1 1/2 Cups of All-purpose Flour
1 Cup of Cool Water
1/16th of a teaspoon of Dry Yeast

Yes, you read that right ... 1/16th of a teaspoon ... just a little bitty pinch will do.

Cover with a cloth and let it rest for 24 hours to begin it's fermentation.  Day Two it will be all bubbly and yeasty smelling.

Day 2

Transfer your Starter into a larger bowl, preferably a mixing bowl with an electric mixer where you have a dough hook.  This isn't necessary; but it does make the kneading process a lot easier.

ADD:

2 teaspoons of Dry Yeast
3 Cups of Flour
2 1/4 teaspoon of Salt
2 Tablespoons of Dry Powdered Milk
2/3 Cup of Warm Water
3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil ~ or substitute with Melted Shortening

Beat at a medium speed with the dough hook for 7 minutes.  Or put onto a floured board and hand knead for 10 minutes.  The dough will be very soft and will become shiny looking as you knead it.

Grease a bowl large enough to hold the dough doubled in size.  Let it rise for 2 hours, deflating it gently by lightly shaking the bowl after about 1 hour of rising time.

This rising time is what makes the airy centers to the rolls that are characteristics of the Ciabatta Roll.  It's also what makes them so good for making sandwiches because it can absorb and hold fillings so nice :)

After the 2 hour rise period ...

On a floured board gently press the dough into a square.  Take a sharp knife and divide into 12 pieces.

Place the rolls onto a greased baking sheet.

With your finger tips ~ dimple the dough.

Let rise another 2 - 3 hours until doubled in size again.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Right before placing the rolls in the oven ... gently dimple them again AND lightly spritz with water.

BAKE for 18 - 20 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy!

And you thought all I did all day was watch the critters out my window.

Well... today the pine squirrel came to peak in my window to see what I was up to.

Let's open the door and get a better shot:

Oh...

I'll never tire of baking up goodies or

 watching the wild life around here.

I must confess though ... I am getting tired of shoveling snow!

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

dear deer ~

Just thought I'd share some more deer pics with you today.  This little group was in the yard this afternoon.  

They have a few trails in the backyard that they walk through on.  As long as they stay on the trails they do okay ...

... but when they get off the beaten path it's up to their bellies and the going gets hard for them.

I love how this one is hiding behind the tree :)

They were struggling.  I can only imagine how hard it must be for them in the woods ~ especially if a wolf or something is after them.  

Ahhhhh ... there we go ... back on a trail again.

I sure hope we don't have to switch over from wood and use propane for heating.  It would have to be shoveled out to get to it.

With this bitter cold weather this winter the wood shed is getting lighter ... we're down to the last row and a half. That's a bad sign when you can see daylight through the last row.

We do have some back up wood piled on the outside of the shed ~ but we'll have to do some shoveling to get to it.

Anybody want some snow?  I have a trailer full loaded to go.  

Do you know what this is?

Angel Wings

It's the imprint left by an owl landing in the snow.  

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

sun shiny day ~

The sun is shining; but baby it's still cold out.  It's above zero though ~ ll degrees!  Time to take the camera outside instead of looking through the window.

Yes Chubby ~ I'm outside looking at you.

I named this little one Chubby because he's in my yard every day checking out what he ( I think it's a male) can browse on.  

If it wasn't for me putting corn, alfalfa and Chaffhaye out my apple trees would be demolished by the deer.

Yes, little one ~ I am still looking at you.  Sticking your tongue out at me isn't going to make me go away.
Go back to your browsing on the Chaffhaye block.

I only have around 5 - 7 deer that come in regularly.  There was some pretty heavy logging done down the road from us and the deer have herded up down there for the winter months. They browse on tree tops left from the loggers.

Chubby is a loner.  He's been coming in my yard since last spring when I believe it's momma may have been killed by wolves or hit by a car.  When the other deer come in ... they always chase poor lil Chubby out.  So I adopted him :)  I just wish I could get closer.

I think I could of had him eating out of my hand this fall ~ had I an apple in my hand.  You might remember seeing this pic in an earlier post.

Look how much he's grown since September.

No zoom here ... he was walking up to me as I was standing on the bottom deck step and talking to him

I pray he sticks around and stays away from the highway and predators.  A few more months and it'll be easier on the wildlife.  This has been a rough winter for them with all the snow and the bitter cold weather.

I hope you are able to enjoy wildlife and nature.

If not ... keep visiting and I'll keep sharing mine with you :)  Have a wonderful day!

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

snow overload ~

We have a snow overload ~

It fell off the tree and tipped over the bird house ... and between the trees it's piled up about 10 feet high from falling off the branches.

All this snow doesn't seem to bother the Pileated Woodpecker ... he's content with checking the trees for grubs ... and coming to the suet feeder.

The snow is getting deep.

How deep?  Up to a deer's belly deep.

Notice the partridge flying in?

 The partridge are even getting lost behind the snow banks when they come in to eat alfalfa and corn that I put out for the critters.

Sorry for the blur ... but these pics were taken through my dirty living room window.  I'm so ready for spring so I can wash them inside and out.  I don't dare try it when it's this cold out ... I'll just have a big frozen smear of window cleaner on them :) I have discovered this from experience!  That's why I like getting my windows nice and clean before it gets cold out.

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel