Lazy Sundays (yeah, right!)

This is where I tucked my gum until
we got running!  

The girls and I got our run in this morning.   It was a pretty slushy run. We were running on the backroads of Richmond, Litchfield, and West Gardiner, so we have to expect terrible conditions.  What I wasn’t expecting was the hills!  I also wasn’t expecting the little old ladies to speed up as to make sure they would splash us either.  Geez!  While it wasn’t exactly 10 miles, it was close enough.  The Garmin (I really think I should name her something else, any ideas?) said we ran 9.9 miles for 1 hr and 48 minutes (10:54 pace/mile).  

I put Ward's big boots on for the chicken coop cleaning.
He said that they look sexy.  I think he's delusional!

When I got home, I immediately put on Ward's boots and went down to clean out the chicken coop.  Those girls are much happier when they have clean wood shavings.  I thought since it was 37 degrees out there, it would be a perfect time to clean it out.  Let’s hope they reward me with some (more) eggs today.   We ended up with 7 eggs today.  Thank you, girls!

This one was not impressed and stayed up on
her perch while I cleaned out the coop!

She seemed very happy with the fresh saw dust.
I caught her rolling in it!

Our eggs for today!

Next on the list was Sticky Caramel Rolls (the actual recipe calls for pecans, but I’m all out, so we’ll settle for plain ol’ caramel rolls today) from the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day cookbook. (see recipe below) I whipped up a batch of dough, let it rise for the 2 hours, then split the dough in half.  Half for today’s Sticky Caramel Rolls and half for bread later on this week.   I put the rolls in the oven for at 350 degrees for 40 minutes then we went outside to sled! 

Izzy and Ward taking the sleds up to the hill!

Izzy and Ward going down the hill!

Tucker's turn!

 What a glorious day it was to sled.  Last night’s rain gave it just enough of a crust to really get some distance.  

The Master Recipe (start with this first!)

3 cups of lukewarm water

1.5 tablespoons granulated yeast (or 2 packets)

1.5 tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt (I use ¾ tablespoon of regular table salt)

6.5 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour

1. Add salt and yeast in a 5 qt container.  Pour in warm water.   I usually mix it up a little.  
2. Add flour.  Mix.
3. Cover the container, loosely.  Let it rise for approximately 2 hrs. 

Now, onto the Sticky Caramel Rolls!

Caramel Topping

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (I used salted)

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup brown sugar

30 pecan halves (I omitted this time)

The Filling

4 tablespoons salted butter, softened

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (I omitted today)

½ cup chopped and toasted pecans (I omitted today)

Pinch of ground black pepper (I omitted today)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees at least 20 minutes prior to baking!
2. Cream caramel topping together.  Set aside. 
3. Cream filling together.  Set aside. 
4. Dust the work surface with flour, cut off a 1.5 (cantaloupe-size) piece of dough. 
5. Roll out the dough to a 1/8 thick rectangle.  Use flour if sticky, be careful to not make it too dry!
6. Put filling mixture onto top of dough.  Start with long side, roll the dough into a log.  If the dough is too soft to cut, let it chill for 20 minutes to firm up. 
7. With a sharp serrated knife, cut the log into 8 equal pieces and arrange in pan, with the edge facing up.  (The recipe calls for you to cover it with plastic wrap and allow to rest and rise for another 40 minutes with unrefrigerated dough or 1 hr with refrigerated dough – I didn’t today and I think it turned out fluffy and spectacular.  You choose!)
8. Top with topping mixture.
9. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown. 

Yum!