Tuesday 18 April 2017

The bread dough that rose up and over......

 
Message to self:  
You must remember to use the timer on your desk when  you have things heating / cooking on the stove otherwise you will likely end up with another mess like this. When will you learn that you get so absorbed in what you are working at on at the computer that time flies by, and what you think is only five minutes is actually half an hour.  Meanwhile you think that you are waiting for the pot / cake/ etc to cook but what you are actually doing is letting whatever it is you are waiting for to overcook / burn.
Which is why you have a timer on your desk.  
 
So this sorry looking pot was supposed to be yesterday's bread.
I have got into the habit of speeding up the rising of the bread by putting the pot of dough  on a cake rack which is then rested over a pan of warm water. It is an efficient method of getting the dough to rise, although if the water is too hot it will start cooking the bottom of the dough, but not to worry, all I do is scrape off the partially cooked bits, split the dough into the two bread tins, and carry on.
 
However, the other day I got involved with writing the previous blog.. The words were flowing, and it was easy to write. Sometimes I hit word blocks and the blog will then feel stilted when I read it through, but the other day I was rolling along, so I kept going as indeed the bread did, rising up and rising up until it fell over the sides of the pot.
Not to worry, I was able to salvage enough dough to make one small loaf!
 
Message to self:
It is best not to eat toast which has runny jam on it at the same time as trying to finish off a blog, because it is in the nature of runny jam to like to travel off the slice of toast it is supposed to stay put on, which is your fingers first, then on to the keys of your computer keyboard. Stickiness will then happen. Licking your fingers will not help. So best to eat the toast while you are reading blogs, and not writing them!
 
 Meanwhile, we 'lost' the sheep the other day, but not to worry, they were having adventures in the woodland. As for the three cows, Bonny is milking down now, so soon we shall have to buy in milk because there is no room in the freezer to keep a stock of our own frozen milk. She is in calf now, but it will be at least six months before she will give us milk again. We don't know why she is lessening her milk yield to us as she should have kept going for another five months or so. She is even being unhelpful about moving into her milking corner, so perhaps she is just getting fed up with having her udders messed about with.
 
Onwards, then, into another day. Oh I forgot to mention that Lester had a big fright yesterday. Opened the barn doors, and nearly trod on a humungously big long snake sunning itself on the concrete step. It slid away though, but into a mess of nettles and brambles which are currently growing at the back of the house, which was one of my ongoing projects to get rid off, but I think not now. I think that me, my scythe, and my secateurs, will remain away from that spot!
 
So off out into my day I go,
think I might scythe down the nettles which are vigorously growing along the River Path so I can get to the River Beach without getting stung to pieces. This is the roaming territory of the sheep but they are over in the Side Field for the moment while Lester continues the Save The Fruit Trees Project. so me and the Rottweiller Girls may as well take the opportunity to get those nettles cut down.
 
So saying bye for now,
Vx

12 comments:

local alien said...

That bread dough was very active!! What a mess though. Glad you managed to salvage a little. Without a timer I would have daily burnt offerings. Trouble is to jump up immediately I hear the timer or all is lost!!

Vera said...

LOCAL ALIEN, when the timer goes off I often set it for another five minutes, without actually looking at the food which is being timed, if I am involved in doing something else! Burnt offerings? We still have plenty of those because of this habit of mine!

Denise said...

Cooooo...living art!

DUTA said...

You're not alone in this being absorbed in some work and forgetting something on the stove. It happened to me last week. I wanted a boiled egg, but I forgot the pot on the stove and the egg exploded. You wouldn't believe what a terrible sound that was, like a genuine bomb explosion. Well, I have to reeducate myself, so that explosions like this one don't happen again.

The Broad said...

I do try hard not to eat or drink while on the computer. Nevertheless, biscuit crumbs among the keys on the keyboard prove me one who gives into temptation! So far I have avoided spilling liquid!! Do you make bread every day?

Vera said...

DUTA, that exploding egg must have given you quite a fright!

DENISE, ....the overflowing dough was definitely 'work in progress' as far as the dough was concerned!

THE BROAD, glad to know that someone else eats at their computer as well! And so far, no liquid has been spilt on mine either. As for bread, I usually make enough dough for two loaves, or one large loaf, one small loaf, and a pizza base.

Dawn said...

Oh yes timers are part of everyday life, I use the one on my phone that lives in my pocket, its what my phone is used for most of the time, bread dough isnt the easiest stuff to clean up, glad you could salvage some of it.

Diane said...

Oh wow what a mess, I hope it was not too difficult to clean up.
It must be snake season again we had one on our verandah last week. At least they keep down the rat and mice population!
Never tried jam toast and computer at the same time, it does not sound like a good idea!!
Have a good week Diane

Vera said...

DAWN, the bread dough which got stuck, and cooked, to the outside of the pot took two days of being soaked to get soft enough to remove! I don't have a mobile phone, but think that would be very handy for timing things.........

DIANE, the bread dough took ages to clean up, and I would agree that eating jam on toast is not a good idea when working on the computer, and neither is eating a piece of crumbly homemade sponge cake!

Mama Pea said...

Did the pan of dough overflow on the stove top? If so, that would have been perfectly awful to clean up. I've heard of a worse one though. A friend was boiling down maple sap on her kitchen stove and it overflowed. Went down through the stove and out onto the floor, between the stove and the adjoining cabinet, into the cabinet drawers and doors. She said she was washing up stickiness for weeks after that episode. (I think I would have moved.) My usual oops is to set milk for yogurt to heat up on the stove and then get on the computer . . . just for 5 minutes, you know. I don't know how many times I've had to clean up a boiled over milk mess. Wouldn't you think we'd learn?

Kerry said...

Oh my goodness, I don't envy the cleanup :(

Vera said...

MAMA PEA, yes, it did overflow on to the stove top as well as the pot that the bread pan was sitting on, and yes, it did takes ages to clean up! And yes, I have done 'milk boiling over when making yoghurt' as well! But at least it was not the sticky mess that your friend made with the boiled over maple syrup, but I have made huge messes when making jam......

KERRY, it took a while!