Excuses, Excuses!

I'm sure you've all (maybe) noticed the fact that I promised to have a birth story soon after my last post...and then enter an alternate universe where "soon" actually means "a month from now" without providing any fodder for the waiting period. Well, actually, what happened was that a week after I last posted my entire immediate family came to visit for Thanksgiving, and then a week after that they left. So, after having my mother around for a good month, and having a whole slew of eager baby-holders for a solid week, I found myself alone with a fussy baby and no one to hand him off to so I could throw together a few posts for my blog. As my darling husband put it just the other day, "having a baby really teaches you to be selfless."

In short, I've been having trouble finding time to devote to this blog. I've been told several times that this is just a phase and won't last forever, so rest assured that, at some point in the future, I will be able to devote more time to this blog than I am currently able.

I am working on the birth story, slowly but surely, so I hope to be able to post that in the near future.

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!

The Prodigal Blogger

I'm back!

How time flies! I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted something here! I suppose I just felt like I couldn't focus on anything but the impending arrival of little Dominic...and my nesting instinct was wicked strong for the last few weeks before the birth, so I was keeping myself pretty darn busy. Just try to imagine me shuffling/waddling around the house to the frantic tune of "Flight of the Bumblebee":



There, that should ease any angst you may harbor against me for making you wait so long for a post...I hope.

I would like to make a separate post containing the birth story, which will follow very soon after this one. So to whet your appetite until I have that written up, here are some pictures of the much anticipated Mr. Dominic. Enjoy!

Just Checking In...

Yes, I am still alive, and no I haven't gone into labor yet. There have been a lot of changes going on in my life here recently (not the least of which being my increasingly beach ball sized belly) and I haven't been able to find the time nor the inspiration to blog. I promise there will be a new post here as soon as I'm feeling up to it.

Until then...try to guess what I'm doing in this picture!

A Long Expected Party

A very Happy Birthday to Bilbo and Frodo Baggins on this 22nd of September, 2010! I would mention their respective ages, but I'm afraid I don't know how to convert Shire Reckoning to the Gregorian calendar.

I say we celebrate with a pint of the Gaffer's home brew (or some cider for us expectant folk)! Bottoms up! Also, check out Seven Geeky Ways to Celebrate Frodo and Bilbo’s Birthday With Your Kids. I particularly like #4.

Monkey Balls!...Er, I Mean Bread

One of my favorite memories from my childhood is of visiting my grandparents, where we would pop open canisters of refrigerated biscuit dough, cut them into pieces with scissors, cover them in butter and cinnamon-sugar, and pile them all in a Bundt pan to bake. My grandmother always called them Monkey Balls, a moniker which her grandchildren found truly amusing and entertaining (for obvious reasons....giggle). I remember on more than one occasion we would somehow miscalculate the bake time and/or temperature, and end up with a very crunchy exterior and a rather doughy interior (which we still ate, of course).

Well, since then my standards have changed just a little bit, to where the use of refrigerated biscuit dough would be tantamount to culinary murder (sorry Gramma!). So you can imagine my delight when I stumbled upon (and when I say "stumbled upon" I really mean actively searched out...because I'm pregnant and I crave things) a recipe on smitten kitchen for homemade monkey bread...sans Pillsbury! She takes her version from Cook's Illustrated and adds a cream cheese glaze, which I omitted because 1) I was craving the Monkey Balls from my childhood, which did not include a glaze, and 2) I didn't have any cream cheese on hand. The result was an even better version of the one my grandmother made. Glory! And I polished most of it off by myself...because I'm pregnant.

Monkey Bread

Adapted from smitten kitchen

Dough
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) unsalted butter, divided (2 tablespoons softened, 2 tablespoons melted)
1 cup milk, warm (around 110 degrees)
1/3 cup water, warm (also around 110 degrees)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (I used organic cane sugar)
1 package or 2 1/4 teaspoons rapid rise, instant or bread machine yeast
3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
2 teaspoons table salt

Brown Sugar Coating
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I added an extra 1/2 teaspoon, because I love cinnamon)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick or 4 ounces), melted

1. Adjust oven rack to medium-low position and heat oven to 200°F. When oven reaches 200, turn it off. Butter Bundt pan with 2 tablespoons softened butter. Set aside.

2. In large measuring cup, mix together milk, water, melted butter, sugar, and yeast.

To proceed with a stand mixer, mix flour and salt in standing mixer fitted with dough hook. Turn machine to low and slowly add milk mixture. After dough comes together, increase the speed to medium and mix until dough is shiny and smooth, 6 to 7 minutes. The dough will be slightly sticky. Turn dough onto lightly floured counter and knead briefly to form a smooth, round ball.

To proceed by hand, mix flour and salt in large bowl. Make a well in the flour, then add the milk mixture to the well. Using a wooden spoon or dough scraper, stir until dough becomes shaggy and is difficult to stir. Turn out onto lightly floured work surface and begin to knead, incorporating shaggy scraps back into dough. Knead until dough is smooth and satiny, about 10 minutes. Shape into taut ball and proceed as directed.

3. Coat large bowl with nonstick cooking spray or a tablespoon of neutral oil. Place dough in bowl and coat surface of dough with more cooking spray or roll around to coat in oil. Cover bowl with plasti-crap and place in warm oven until dough doubles in size, 50 to 60 minutes.

4. Place melted butter in one bowl. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a second one.

5. Flip dough out onto floured surface and gently pat into an 8-inch square. Using a bench scraper or knife, cut dough into 64 pieces. Gently roll each piece of dough into a ball. Working one at a time, dip balls in melted butter, allowing excess butter to drip back into bowl (a fork helps). Roll in brown sugar mixture, then layer balls in Bundt pan, staggering seams where dough balls meet as you build layers. Cover Bundt pan tightly with plasti-crap and place in turned-off oven until dough balls are puffy and have risen 1 to 2 inches from top of pan, 50 to 70 minutes.

6. Remove pan from oven and heat oven to 350°F. Unwrap pan and bake until top is deep brown and caramel might begin to bubble around edges, 30 to 35 minutes (mine didn't bubble, but it was definitely done). Cool in pan for 5 minutes (no longer, or you’ll have trouble getting it out) then turn out on platter and allow to cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Basically, you just pull the thing apart with your fingers. I was a tad impatient and probably dug into it too soon because I burned my fingers more than once, but it was divine!

In the immortal words of Julia Child: Bon appetit!