I wasn’t sure I had the strength to write anything tonight. Owen and I spent the day in the kitchen. We made a brisket — half a brisket because the whole thing was big enough to feed at least eight people and the half had leftovers. I used a North African recipe and just to round out the holiday, it being both Passover and Palm Sunday — and none of us religious, but all of us like food — we baked hot cross buns — without the cross. We are a household of people who don’t eat icing. They were very good, but if we make them again, we need to keep more moist.
HOT CROSS BUNS
RECIPE
4 3/4 – 5 cups white flour (DEPENDING ON THE FLOUR) Used four, probably should have used half a cup less.
1/3 cup sugar (I think half a cup would have been better)|
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 packages of active dry yeast (5 teaspoons)
3/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup butter or margarine
3 beaten eggs
1 cup raisins or craisins (or more). If you prefer, you can used any mixed dried fruit.
Use a stand mixer. Beat the eggs with the milk and water. Melt the butter. Warm the water, milk and butter to just tepid or a little warmer. Beat in the eggs. Add to all the rest of the dry ingredients (including the yeast and the fruit) Add a cup and a half of flour. You’ll use the rest when you mix it with the dough hook. It make a pretty dry dough, so you may want to add a bit more milk and water.
Beat in mixer, then knead for five or six minutes. Let it rise till about doubled in a covered, oiled bowl. When risen, punch down the dough. An oiled ice-cream scoop is a good measure for the right amount of dough for a bun. You’ll need two cookie sheets and should have 18 to 24 buns. Cover the balls of dough. When risen, bake them. Best warm!
I’m so stuffed I can barely breathe. By most people’s standards, I didn’t eat that much, but for me, it was a lot of food. I think I’m one Ginger Snap over the line. Oh, I forgot. Also ginger snaps.
So forgive me if I keep this brief. I hope tomorrow I will have digested enough that my brain is working again. Right now, all I can say is the food was great, but I should have stopped before dessert!
SERENDIPITY: SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
Brisket and buns sound like a fine menu, but I would have needed just a teensy bit of frosting. 🙂
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Yes, that’s what you do with bulbs usually. I haven’t had lilies but when my potted bulbs are finished each year I let them die right back , leaves as well before I remove them.I sometimes put year old bulbs in the ground rather than repotting them the following autumn. Some people put bulbs in the crisper part of the fridge prior to replanting them but with your cold winters I don’t think that would be necessary. I don’t do it here although I did in Adelaide.
I made hot cross buns too but i cheated and did the dough in the breadmaker then kneaded them again and let them prove before baking. I did icing crosses but I actually prefer the baked on ones with flour and water paste, you might as well. I’m always bad at doing the crosses whatever i use I can’t make them look nice.
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Ah, it sounds like a lovely feast and overindulgence once in a great while isn’t bad (in my opinion). I had Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, green beans and a brownie (small one). I felt extremely full at the end too, but not too bad. I hope you recover and also from your Covid shot, and feel frisky and well again!
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I am hoping this one is going to not drop me in my tracks. First shot, the rest of me was fine, but my right arm felt like it was going to fall off which made typing a bit tricky. I treated myself to a pot of Easter lilies on the way home. They are currently all buds, but they will bloom. I have to figure out how to save them during the winter. I think I have to dig them up and store them in a dark, cool place until next spring. Something like that. Never done it, so I really DO have to look it up.
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