No-Knead Salt Rise Bread

Have I mentioned before that I love Pinterest? Well I do. Since I've joined I spend much more time doing domestic-y things. Just ask the hubby!

Now, I know that not everyone actually does 100% of the things that they 'pin.' If they are honest, in all reality it's probably more like 5-10%.

But when all of your friends are pinning about all of these wonderful crazy things that you never bothered to try before, you start to think, "hey, even I can make my own taco seasoning!" and other such nonsense.

So, without further ado...

Today I was inspired to bake the bread recipe found here.

Now, I have a bread machine. It is one of my favorite things in my kitchen. If I had to choose, I would keep it over my crockpot (and that's saying something!). So I can make bread in an hour, without kneading anything. Why would I need to try any other ways to make bread, you ask?

Because this bread is CHEAP.

Bread machine recipes require quite a bit of yeast, especially if you use the quick recipes.

This recipe only requires

3 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon yeast
1 1/2 cups water

And that's IT. Well, there is the additional flour required to keep the dough from sticking to your counter. But it still comes out a lot cheaper than recipes that require cooking oil, butter, or additional yeast. And, even though it takes a long time from start to finish, it's really easy to make. (See end of post for a copy/paste version of the recipe!)

First, mix up all your dry ingredients in a bowl. Add water and mix until dough forms a messy ball. Cover with plastic wrap and leave for 12-18 hours (do NOT refrigerate).

Preheat oven to 450. Once oven is hot, place a crock or dutch oven with a lid into the oven for 30 minutes. (I've discovered that one of my Fiesta Ware platters fits the top of my small crockpot perfectly!)

While your pot is heating, dump the dough out onto a heavily floured surface, shape into a ball, and let sit.

Remove the pot from the oven, take off the lid, and transfer the dough to the pot. Replace the lid, and bake the whole thing for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid, and bake the pot and bread for an additional 15 minutes.

Take pot and bread out of the oven and carefully transfer the bread to a cooling rack. Let fully cool before slicing. This part is the hardest, because it smells and sounds (crusty is a sound!) amazing.

Here's the recipe for those who want to copy and paste. Or you can go print off the original directions from this blog

No-Knead Salt Rise Bread

3 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon yeast

1 1/2 cups water

1. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add water and mix until dough forms a messy ball. Cover with plastic wrap and leave for 12-18 hours (do NOT refrigerate). 
2. Preheat oven to 450. Once oven is hot, place a crock or dutch oven with a lid into the oven for 30 minutes. 
3. While your pot is heating, dump the dough out onto a heavily floured surface, shape into a ball, and let sit for 30 minutes.
4. Remove the pot from the oven, take off the lid, and transfer the dough to the pot. Replace the lid, and bake the whole thing for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid, and bake the pot and bread for an additional 15 minutes. 
5. Take pot and bread out of the oven and carefully transfer the bread to a cooling rack. Let fully cool before slicing.

Homemade Playdough Part 2

Here's the full set of colors after I made a second batch of playdough today. Add some cookie cutters, a placemat, and a case to keep it all in, and you've got a great homemade birthday present for a 2 year old nephew! :)

Homemade Playdough

My little Munchkin is way too young to play with playdough. I'm pretty sure he would just sit there and eat bits of it until the whole thing was gone. Just like he tried to eat the leaves outside today. 

So I'm not making the playdough for him. 

But, I do have a nephew who turns two tomorrow, and his mommy is certain that he can play with big boy things like playdough. So, since I am such a procrastinator an awesome aunt, I decided to make some for his birthday. 

I waited until the Munchkin was asleep so I wouldn't have any interruptions. I'm not much of a chemist, and didn't want to take any chances with the recipe failing due to lack of diligence. 

There are many recipes out there, but I followed one from here.

Super Soft Homemade Playdough

1 cup flour

1 cup water

1/4 cup salt

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

food coloring of choice

Measuring everything out is the hard part. Here's the easy part - dump everything into a saucepan. Stir well to get rid of flour lumps and evenly distribute the food coloring. 

Turn heat to medium, and stir constantly. The dough will start to clump up and stick to the soon. Once it forms a large ball, remove from heat and place dough on wax paper to cool. 

After a few minutes, knead the dough to eliminate any remaining lumps. When the dough is fully cooled, store it in plastic bags or containers. I have tons of baby food containers on hand, so I stored mine in these:

One recipe made enough for three containers, plus a little bit left over. To make several colors, cut the recipe in half or pour portions of it into separate sauce pans and then add the food coloring.

~ ~ ~

Since I ended up with 7 containers (half green, half blue) I have plenty of playdough to send to the birthday boy and some to keep. It really is a great stress reliever to sit and knead it with your hands. :)