Food

Here is a loaf of sourdough bread I made back on September 24th, 2013. It involves making a starter and keeping it going in your refrigerator by "feeding" it. Some people keep their starter going for years.

I made these loaves the night before last, and photographed them last night. The recipe is a copycat of the foot-long loaves Subway uses for their submarine sandwiches and it makes eight loaves. I'd already eaten two of them before I thought to photograph them. They are delicious! The baking sheet is the width of my full-sized stove, so you can tell how long they are.

These are some yeast rolls I made Sunday while over at some friend's house to sing karaoke. I started them at my house, and shaped them and let them rise the final time once I got there. They're called Texas Roadhouse Rolls, and here's the recipe: Texas Roadhouse Rolls Ingredients: 4 tsp. active dry yeast 1/2 c. warm water 2 c. milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm 3 Tbl. of melted butter, slightly cooled 1/2 c. sugar 2 quarts all purpose flour (7-8 cups) (My total ended up being 8 1/2 cups) 2 whole eggs 2 tsp. salt Directions: Dissolve yeast in warm water with a teaspoon of sugar; let stand until frothy. Combine yeast mixture, milk, 1/2 cup sugar and enough flour to make a medium batter (about the consistency of pancake batter). Beat thoroughly. Add melted butter, eggs and salt. Beat well. Add enough flour to form a soft dough. Sprinkle a small amount of flour onto counter and let dough rest. Meanwhile, grease a large bowl. Knead dough until smooth and satiny and put in greased bowl; turn over to grease top. (I used the dough hook on my Kitchen-Aid to knead this for about 4-5 minutes). Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk. Punch down. Turn out onto a floured board. Divide into portions for shaping; let rest 10 minutes. Shape dough into desired forms. Place on greased baking sheets. Let rise until doubled. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Baste immediately with butter. Yield: 2 1/2 dozen.

A loaf of French bread I made over 20 years ago - I've been thinking about making some again. This image was taken from a videotape I recorded back in the early 1990s.

After watching The Ten Commandments again and seeing them eat the flat breads throughout the movie, it put me in the mood for some. So, I made some pita bread today for gyros. The gyro I had for dinner was excellent, if I do say so myself. I also spent the day making some dandelion wine as well. That will take a while before it's finished and then has to age for a year before opened.

Who doesn't like these little smokey links wrapped in biscuits? This is a batch I made back in 2012. I take them to a lot of functions I attend - they're easy to eat and not messy. Plus, both kids and adults like them.

You know those big, buttery-sweet rolls you get at steak restaurants? I have a recipe for them and made them again yesterday afternoon for dinner last night. They're called Texax Roadhouse Rolls. Those things are delicious! You melt a little butter over them as soon as they come out of the oven and they almost melt in your mouth. Needless to say, the recipe makes several, about 3 dozen, so I'll be enjoying these for a few more days to come! As always, if anybody would like the recipe for any of the food pictures I post, I can provide it as well.

Here's the sourdough bread I made on Wednesday, January 31st, 2018. The loaf looks kind of small because, by the time I was able to photograph it, half of it had been eaten! Man, it sure was good straight out of the oven with butter spread over it. As you can see, it has a good texture and I could slice it real thin and it held together well.

I made a couple loaves of French bread tonight for dinner. It was the first time I'd made it in probably 30 years. But, it turned out delicious! I sliced a piece off one loaf and made a sandwich with it. Taken on March 1st, 2024, with my Sony Alpha SLT-a77V DSLR.

Here's the six-inch submarine sandwich I fixed for dinner tonight with some of the fresh baked French bread I made tonight. Taken on March 1st, 2024, with my Sony Alpha SLT-a77V DSLR.

Yeast rising for some rolls I made recently.

I was going through my freezer, and at the bottom I found this frozen loaf of zucchini bread that my Mother had made. Now, she passed away ten years ago, so this loaf was at least 10 years old. Probably more likely 11-12 years old. I thawed it and it tasted great and was still moist. Thanks, Mom - I'm keeping your memory alive. Camera: Minolta XG-7 Lens: Soligor MC C/D Zoom + Macro 35-140mm, f/3.8, @75mm and macro Film: Kodak Gold 100 (expired on 10/2011 and shot @25 ISO) Shooting Program: Manual Aperture: f/22 Shutter Speed: “B” (bulb) 4 seconds Date: May 19th, 2020, 1.09 p.m. Location: Norris City, Illinois, U.S.A. Developing Chemicals: Unicolor C-41 Water pre-soak: 1 minute at 102 degrees Developer: 3 mins. and 30 secs. at 102 degrees Water rinse: 2 minutes (to keep chemicals clean) Blix: 6 ½ minutes at 102 degrees Water rinse: 2 minutes at approx. 100 degrees Stabilizer: 1 minute at room temperature Water rinse: 2 minutes Kodak Photo-Flo 200: 1 minute Minolta XG-7 Kodak Gold 100 2020 00ff

A family Thanksgiving back in 1996. Camera: Minolta XD11 Lens: Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm, f/1.2 Film: Kodak Gold 100 Date: August 28th, 1996 Location: Norris City, Illinois, U.S.A. XD11 Kodak Gold 100-5 22ef

The turkey I cooked yesterday for Thanksgiving.

Here's the turkey I cooked for Thanksgiving this year.

I celebrated Turko de Mayo today. This bird just came out of the oven about an hour ago. Taken with my Sony Alpha SLT-a77v on May 29th, 2015.

The turkey I cooked for last year's Thanksgiving. Camera: Minolta XG-SE Lens: Seagull MC Zoom 28-70mm, f/3.5, @ 45mm Film: Fuji Film Superia X-TRA 400 Shooting Program: Manual Aperture: f/16 Shutter Speed: “B” (bulb) 5 seconds Date: November 28th, 2019, 2.58 p.m. Location: Norris City, Illinois, U.S.A. Developing Chemicals: Unicolor C-41 Water pre-soak: 1 minute at 102 degrees Developer: 3 ½ minutes at 102 degrees Water rinse: 2 minutes (to keep chemicals clean) Blix: 6 ½ minutes at 102 degrees Water rinse: 2 minutes at approx. 100 degrees Stabilizer: 1 minute at room temperature Water rinse: 2 minutes Kodak Photo-Flo 200: 1 minute Minolta XG-SE Fuji Superia 400 Fall Tree 2019 27ff

I cooked this turkey last week when I made a big batch of turkey vegetable soup to can up. Now, I've had some recent practice and tomorrow's bird should turn out fine for Thanksgiving! Er.... later today on Thanksgiving. It's late and I just finished making 9 homemade pumpkin pies.