Of Bread, Books and Song (Dutch Crunch Bread)

I've been in the kitchen playing with dough again. I had two amazingly delicious baking events take place in one week. I'll tell you about one of them in a moment. But first: I somehow hurt myself last week while playing "farmer girl" in the yard. I tend toward being overly zealous when it comes to keeping things "tidy" around here. I now have tennis elbow something fierce. (My own diagnosis. Thank you WebMD.) Of course given my propensity for hyper-analyzing aches and pains (I wouldn't say I'm a hypochondriac. . . yet) but I will say I have gotten very good at hitting Google when such needs arise as those involving my body and pain. (Almost Fifty folks.) No lifting anything too heavy (including my cast iron pan). Take anti-inflammatory meds. And overall ix-nay the awnmower-lay. Thank goodness we're in the midst of a cool spell. The grass went dormant again.

It's not easy for me to relax. Relax: I'm asleep. So to sort of force myself into submission of "relaxing", I've got four books I'm in the middle of reading on my Kindle Fire (I heart my Kindle) while the arm rests:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. So far I've come away thinking that Woody Harrelson is PERFECT cast as Haymitch--but that's about it for now--and I've NOT seen the movie.

An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler. She is the new M.F.K. Fisher--totally a foodie read and love it so far.

Searching for Tamsen Donner by Gabrielle Burton. Love, love this book--don't want it to end, but DO know how the Donner Party ends.

And this afternoon I downloaded A Natural Woman by Carole King--who was just interviewed by Terry Gross on Fresh Air today. I am so happy I caught this episode. So. Happy. Huge Carole King fan. Tapestry: Best. Girl. Album. Ever. If you were anywhere near the 1970s growing up, you knew this album by heart. I was, and I did.

So I've got plenty to keep me busy, but not in the "hurt-myself-with-physical-labor" busy kind of way. My mantra: Rest. The. Arm. 

Yesterday was a milestone day for me. I graduated into my second guitar lesson book! I had a bit of a setback with Bach and Minuet in G--my final lesson from book one. It was tough. I still don't have it down perfectly. The arm thingy didn't help--but I'm not using that lame excuse. During my session, I tortured my poor instructor with my pleas of letting me play it "Just one more time. . . I KNOW this--I've practiced it a hundred times already!" I am very nervous playing in front of others. Even my instructor. Even husband. It's like I begin my playing and am in my own little world, but get going on something and suddenly realize: OMG--I am playing in front of someone! Once my hot flashes calmed down in the studio yesterday--my focus was better. God love my teacher. He indulged me four tries and then declared me "passed"--but said I still had to keep practicing the Minuet. Lucky for me Dr. Thyme loves Bach!

My food stuff for today involves bread! Dutch Crunch Bread to be precise. Some background. A blogger friend of mine, Jeanne of Simple Math Bakery (the link takes you to the recipe) stuns me with her brilliant baking-ness. One of the perks of being in the foodie-sphere is meeting other like-minded foodies along the way. Jeanne and I share an affinity for both chocolate and baking which immediately placed her in high esteem. She recently blogged about Dutch Crunch Bread--entirely new bread to me, apparently quite popular in San Francisco. I knew even before I'd finished reading Jeanne's post that I'd be making these. So. Happy. I. Did! Dr. Thyme and I loved these rolls! They were part of the Daring Baker's challenge. Jeanne's directions and recipe worked beautifully! I did add a wee bit of whole wheat flour to my version (1/3 cup) and a bit of flax seed. These rolls are now in our rotation. Thanks, Jeanne!  

Make the dough. Let rise. Shape. Let rise.

Make the "crunch" topping! Bake. I know. Bizarre looking, right? But. . . it works! The rolls bake up soft and chewy on the inside and yummy and crunchy on the outside.

Serve sliced with your fave filling. Ours for this particular evening was Vegan BBQ with Match Meats. You can find a recipe for the BBQ portion of the sammich here. Yum!