http://youtu.be/5P5akoQ_eNI

I feel like a floppy noodle by comparison.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of potatoes. Go with russets or bakers, stay away from waxers. You want nice & starchy taters.
• 1 large or two medium onions.
• Ham. Something between 1/4 and 1/2 a pound. Or leave it out if you don't eat pork/meat in general.
• 1 stick of salted sweet cream butter. Don't try to substitute margarine.
• 1/2 tsp salt.
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper. Or black.
• 1 tsp chili powder.

Peel the potatoes and dice them into roughly half-inch cubes. Bring a pot of water to a boil. At the full boil, add the potatoes and boil for ten (10) minutes, then drain well and set aside.

Finely dice the onion or onions. Cube or dice the ham. Place a large cast-iron skillet (I use what's technically a chicken fryer, but a 12-inch skillet would probably work) over medium heat, and add the stick of butter. The trick here is you want the butter to melt and brown but not burn. Put the diced onions into the skillet and cook them for 2-and-a-half minutes, stirring frequently, then add the cubed/diced ham. Cook for an additional two-and-a-half minutes.

Add the potatoes, salt, ground pepper, and chili powder to the ham and onions. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the potatoes are golden brown.

Serves four normal people or two very hungry young men.

I don't know the first line, but the second is from The Black Company, by Glen Cook.

So, after following the proofing instructions on the packet and waiting 5 minutes, my conclusion is that my yeast is good, but that Mormor's recipe as written doesn't allow it to get up and going before being mixed in with the other ingredients. I also may not have had the dough warm enough while rising, especially during the last rise in the pans; I have a memory of Mormor letting the bread rise in a warmed oven (per America's Test Kitchen, heat the oven to 200 degrees, then turn it off).

Mind you, even when a little denser than planned, bread you make yourself beats store-bought any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

Thanks for the tips; I think those who suggested problems with the yeast might be right, because it didn't seem to get very bubbly when I mixed it with the water. On the other hand, it's not very old at all, I think; all the packets are stamped on the back 'BEST IF USED BY 0 6 1 2 1 3 2' which I think translates into 6/12/2013, but might be 6/2012, in which case it's past it.

I've got two packets left, I'll sacrifice one (FOR SCIENCE!) and see if that's the problem.

Another possibility is that the packets claim to be for all flours, but, and I quote, "especially WHOLE GRAIN!" and I'm using white flour.

So, I've been trying to make my mormor's bread recipe, which is as follows:

2 packets yeast (I've been using active dry yeast)
1/2 cup warm water
1/3 cup sugar (generous)
2 Tbsp salt
1/2 cup oil or melted margarine
2 cups hot scalded milk
1-1/2 cups cold water
10-12 cups flour (white or mixed)

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Combine sugar, oil/margarine, salt, and hot milk in mixing bowl. Add cold water to cool mixture to lukewarm. Add dissolved yeast and mix well. Gradually add flour; knead until smooth and satiny, 5-10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours. Punch down, turn over, cover and let rise 30 minutes. Place on lightly floured surface, divide into 4 parts. Mold into balls, cover and let rest for 15 minutes. Form into loaves, place into greased bread pans, cover and let rise in a warm place until the dough fills the pans, about 1.5 hours. Bake at 350-375 for 30 to 50 minutes depending on actual oven performance. Remove from pans immediately. Cool completely on racks before bagging & storing.

Now, my problem is that my loaves keep ending up very dense, with an initially moist crumb and very crusty, not unlike a french-style bread. Mormor's bread was a lot, well, fluffier. I don't know enough about bread to know what I'm doing wrong, and due to her Alzheimer's, I can no longer go to the expert. Do I need to knead more? Less? Different yeast? Allow more time for the loaves to rise in the pans? Does it make a difference that I've been making half-batches, since I don't have a mixing bowl big enough for a full batch? Help?

Reyes' choosing to retire to help raise Autumn was kind of a wham moment for me, too. But when you think about it, it makes some sense if you see it as part of his atonement for what happened with Chaz. Reyes doesn't want to eff up another beta kid any more than they already are. Plus, I imagine that the pressure from Celentano has been getting worse, and with Sol's retirement and Daphne's death, the kid is the last straw that breaks the camel's back and makes Reyes decide to pull the pin.

On a largely irrelevant side note, having the gamma be based in New Richmond, Wisconsin, made me wonder what it is about that town that attracts SFF writers looking for settings and/or characters, because S.M. Stirling's Montival series has a major character who's from there (a character who has exactly the same very uncommon name as a professor of geography at my university).

Just finished the new episode. Dr. Frost is a sad scary lady.

So, so bloody true. If I could have had a year to properly mourn my father's death, I maybe wouldn't have needed the better part of a decade it took me to deal with it. Or maybe not. Grief is a funny-peculiar thing.

You have achieved adulthood when you have learned how to do the things you don't want to do.

I award you one Internet, sir.

Whoof. That one line about children's innocence being a shield made out of cardboard and crayon . . .

Like Bibliophile said, a helluva story for Mother's Day.

*pours on more paranoia fuel*

And, thinking about it . . . anything from LiveJournal between Erik's death and Hafidha's hospitalization is also potentially suspect.

<puts on tinfoil hat>

Given Hafidha's powers re the Internet, are you sure you want to assume that posts from Chaz and Daphne on LiveJournal are proofs of their survival?

 

(I'll be over here on the 'This Way Madness Lies' Bench)

Reaction at the end of Part 2: Ho-lee crap.