Baking A Little Bread and Earning A Little Bread

I've been a little busier than usual lately because I've been earning a few dollars doing mystery shops. I've written about mystery shopping before; at the pace I do them, there's no fortune to be made, but the small earnings help to fill in the gaps when Shane isn't able to work a full 40-hour week. I didn't do many shops over the summer, but I've decided to pick up a few lately because Shane's missed a day almost every week recently because of rain.

If you want to read more about my experiences as a mystery shopper, you can do so here and here.

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Last month, I made some cheese-filled dinner rolls. Since then, I've tweaked the recipe just a little and have been using it to make a lot of good things. I've used the recipe for pizza crust, for "baked-in-the-bun" hot dogs, for lunch rolls filled with Sloppy Joe meat and smoked pepper jack cheese, and for sandwich bread. This bread is light and fluffy, even after I subbed in a cup of whole wheat flour for the white flour. It's quickly becoming one of my favorites. The recipe follows the photos.

Italian Sausage Pizza

Baked-In-The-Bun Hot Dogs

Another look at Baked-In-The-Bun Dogs

Bread for toast or sandwiches

Versatile Basic Bread

4 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup lukewarm milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar or honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
4 to 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Combine all the ingredients and mix and knead until you have a soft, elastic dough (don't add too much flour - the key to soft dinner rolls is a soft dough!). Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover, letting rise in a warm place for 20-30 minutes.

Punch down dough and shape as desired. * Cover and let rise again for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until nearly doubled.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. When the dough has risen, bake for 15 to 18 minutes for rolls, slightly longer for loaves, until the top of bread is nicely browned. Remove from the pan immediately and cool on a rack.

*One batch will make16-20 rolls, 2 short loaves, 1 long (Pullman) loaf, or two 12-14" pizza crusts.