You do WHAT??

So I was at work this morning, and a regular customer that I see a few times a week came in between one of our typical morning rushes. I was goofing around and asked him rhetorically if he wanted his 'usual' latte with one of every artificial sugar packets. I rattled them off, raw sugar, cane sugar, equal, sweet and low, splenda, and honey. He nodded, not really paying too much attention and then he stopped and looked at me.
Wait, that actually sounds pretty good, he says, with his almost serious face on the verge of cracking into a smile.
Especially the honey part, I responded, as I put only one splenda into his skinny caramel latte, the way he actually did take it.
He didn't seem to agree with me that honey was a very good idea, and I told him how much I love honey and how I like to use to substitute for sugar when I make bread.
At this he was surprised that I made bread.
Of course, I ended up promising to bring in a loaf for him to try.. Shame shame, Cheryl, now you actually have to make bread again.

Which actually makes me think..

Why is everyone so shocked when others, or myself, make their own bread? It's truly very easy to do. It's just time consuming. I've only messed up bread once by leaving it to rise too long(it got a yeasty flavor and reminded me of beer).
The only thing I can think of that turns people off from bread is the fact that it's time consuming. I don't think people give it enough credit. Making my own bread has always been exciting, no matter how long it took me to do. I mean, really, all you do is mix milk, water, and flour together with a bit of sugar and yeast. If you left it to rise and went to the grocery store, and when you came back you punched it down, it wouldn't really be a problem, would it?

I guess I'm just crazy.
But then again, I had to be taught how to activate yeast and what-not. I guess a lot of people, particularly in my own generation, don't really know how to use yeast, or even what it likes.

For future reference, yeast likes luke warm water and a touch of sugar. If you put it in too hot of water, the yeast dies, and if it's too cold, the yeast takes forever to grow. Quick test of whether or not it's too hot- if you can put your finger in the liquid for 3 seconds without burning yourself, it's perfect! Let it sit in there until the yeast gets foam on the top of the milk/water. If it's taking longer than you would like, add a pinch or two of sugar to the water/milk/fluid. If the recipe calls for sugar, put some of that measurement toward the yeast. EG- a teaspoon or so.
If it never foams, your yeast is either killed or dead already. If it's too old, it probably died long before you opened the packet.
Patience is key.

So, anyway... I challenge you to make some bread. Cuz, seriously, it's not that hard. I pinky promise!

-Cheryl

So Much FOOD!

Alright, so last I posted, I had gotten some skates. Since then, I've fallen(several times), slid, skidded, bounced, tripped, and rolled. And yet, I still suck. :) And I still love every bruise, ache, pain, and scrape of it!
I probably wont make a team, but I'm still planning on trying out. In fact, I will probably be going to meet a few of the girls who are in the pre-tryouts class at Golden Skate tomorrow. It's Christian Music night, so I might actually hear some Flyleaf or Kutless and get excitable. :D Maybe they'll show me how to be a better skater.

On another side of life, I've made 5 new dishes since we last chit chatted. First was friendship bread. Made from the amish starter that friends pass around. I made a few variations of it, and the first batch was a hit. But I made it a second time and it ended up being a little messed up. It stuck to the pan a little, and ended up coming out in chunks... Sort of. But it tasted great!

The second dish I made was some super fluffy, delicious pancakes! I was hungry when I went to visit my friend, Kimie, and she showed me where everything was. I loaded up my handy dandy 'all recipes' application on my phone and whipped up some of the most delicious pancakes I've ever had! Made one with chocolatey chips in it for Kim, and her face pretty much said- Nom nom nom! It was pretty successful, if I may say so myself.

The third dish was an attempt to convince my boyfriend, Kyle, and his dad, Alan, that most food is better when its not from a can. And since they were men, and thinking about camping, they were dead set on sloppy joe's. SO! I made sloppy joe! Honestly, I never thought to make sloppy joe's naturally.. It just never came to mind, opening a can is so much easier than looking up a recipe and buying all the supplies. Let alone looking in your own pantry for the supplies, yeesh! No thank you, sir! That's a trip down memory lane.. My mom's pantry was an organized chaos. I knew where the basic things were kept, but beyond that, she had so much stuff going on that I didn't even know what most of it was. And aside from that, not only was it chaotic in one pantry, we had not just one pantry, but two when we lived in oakley. And if you couldn't find what you were looking for there, any number of the cupboards probably had what you were looking for. Anyway.. I made some MEAN sloppy joe, and everyone loved it. And they even said I should make it again. :) I'm not going to lie, that made me a little proud, and puffy. Delicious dish, I suggest you all try it!

The fourth dish is probably my favorite. Well, maybe, I'm not sure. Kyle and I went to visit my sister, Tabitha, and my grandmother. I had promised to make them dinner, and only had two ingredients to draw inspiration from. Grandmother had italian sausage and cheese(TONS of cheese!!) in her refrigerator, so 're thinking,  decided to make pizza. I know what you're thinking.. WOW! PIZZA FROM SCRATCH?? Not quite. I called Kyle, and he told me how his mom used to make pizza for him when he was a kid. So I went to the store to get some sauce, veggies, and something to make dough with.. Which, in Linda's, Kyle's mom, tradition was Pillsbury's Grands biscuits flattened out with a roller. SO GOOD! We put most the topping, mushrooms, bell peppers, sausage, garlic, and olives, under the cheese. But we put the shrooms and olives on top of the cheese. :)
It was delicious. :)

The fifth dish was swedish meatballs. With peas, salad, and noodles(with gravy). My friend Lauren and her husband Mark came over so we could all catch up with each others lives. And so I could actually MEET Mark. :/ I felt bad for having not met him for the year or more that they've been married. Shame on me! But the meal was great! I've never technically made meatballs from scratch before.. Kind of reminded me of meatloaf. Not gonna lie. But it was fun! Swedish meatballs stand apart because they are fried instead of baked. I'm not really sure what other real differences there are, but the fact remains that they are delicious.  Although, I wasn't too impressed with the noodles and sauce.. There are some definite improvements needed there, but Lauren put in some garlic and it was a HUGE improvement! :) And the dinner conversation was awesome. Absolutely loved them.

Well, that's all I got for this episode of Cheryl the Chef(no, just cook).. Tune in next time for.. Uuuuhh... Who knows what!
Keep spicin things up!
-Cheryl