{"id":58187,"date":"2015-09-18T00:08:35","date_gmt":"2015-09-18T07:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=58187"},"modified":"2015-09-18T00:08:35","modified_gmt":"2015-09-18T07:08:35","slug":"hear-ye-199","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/58187","title":{"rendered":"Hear Ye!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome New Sisters! <\/a>(click for current roster)<\/p>\n

Merit Badge Awardees <\/a>(click for latest awards)<\/p>\n

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is \u2026 Debbie Klann!!!<\/p>\n

Debbie Klann (#770) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning a Beginner, Intermediate & Expert Level Bread Making Merit Badge!<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been baking bread since I was a newlywed 32 years ago, but have learned MUCH in those 32 years! I’ve always known baking is more of an exact science … getting just the right amount of leavening agents so your product turns out the way you want it to.<\/p>\n

While I’ve always used baking powder and baking soda when called for, I was never exactly sure what made each one similar and different. I recently read up on how each works and how they are not interchangeable!<\/p>\n

I also learned that baking soda is about 4x the strength of baking powder and why you will sometimes need to use each one in the same recipe.<\/p>\n

I’ve made several recipes using baking powder, baking soda, and cream of tartar. One of my favorite recipes was an Amish Sugar Cookie, which used cream of tartar and soda. I loved the silky texture. My favorite biscuit recipe calls for an addition of cream of tartar. They were higher and finer textured than some that I have tried. I also tried making a Cream Biscuit using a self-rising flour and cream. These seemed to raise well … and then deflated quickly! I always use unbleached flour and have recently found a whole-wheat pastry flour from soft wheat that makes the most delicate pie crust!<\/p>\n

For my Intermediate level, I baked some bread. I love making my own bread. Store bought does not even compare. And the smell that fills your house is wonderful!<\/p>\n

I’ve used several types of yeast in my breadmaking … regular active dry yeast, quick-rising yeast, and a special yeast for pizza dough. I prefer just the regular yeast over the quick-rising. I just prefer the texture and how it works better. I really do like the pizza-dough yeast. I think it gives it just the right amount of leavening.<\/p>\n

Besides making our weekly bread, I also make some special dark dinner rolls that have cocoa powder, whole wheat flour, and orange juice. They were a big hit with the family!<\/p>\n

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I also tried an Irish Soda Bread. I remember reading when I was young in the Little House<\/em> books how Laura’s mother would make it for the holidays. The recipe I tried included whiskey, caraway seeds, and raisins, but I substituted currants. I wasn’t too sure how this mix of ingredients would taste together … but it really wasn’t too bad! I still prefer the texture of a yeast bread to one made with baking soda.<\/p>\n

Expert level required sourdough mothers. Over the years, I have tried several different sourdough starter recipes … some created so much gas they blew the lid right off the jar, and some never did much of anything. I finally found one that worked for me. I used the starter recipe in the King Arthur Flour baking book. This one uses a rye flour to start, eventually being replaced over the next 10 days or so with unbleached flour.<\/p>\n

This starter was by far the best I’ve ever used. I tried a new sourdough biscuit recipe that was “ok.” I thought it was a little dry. But the sourdough pancakes were divine! The batter foamed up like meringue, and they were a little slice of heaven! Definitely worth keeping a starter JUST for those pancakes.<\/p>\n

I did learn that even if you keep your starter in the fridge while you’re not actively using it, you still need to feed it once a week.\u201d\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster) Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards) My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is \u2026 Debbie Klann!!! Debbie Klann (#770) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gladsome_sisters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58187\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}