Stupid Stollen, Books

That stollen I made last week? I tried cutting it in half and doing an extra rise, which still didn't rise too well. But then when I shaped the loaves, they rose nicely. But after baking the loaves still had a gooey layer inside, while the outsides were almost too dark for my taste. So I don't know what's going on with the daggone things.

The Emperor's Tomb had a little more excitement toward the end and there was a description (the author's interpretation) of the real Emporer Qin Shi's tomb. But, geez, there was a triple agent (Russian, Chinese, American), some of the guys couldn't tell the truth if their lives depended on it, and some of the situations were just so cartoonish - not funny, but exaggerated and difficult to believe. But I finished it and went on to Lana Turner's autobiography. I just finished that today. Don't know what I'll tackle next. Really need to get back to my spinning.

Bread Not Cooperating

I'm taking a break in the middle of making stollen. It's on its first rise, so I have a little over an hour, even more if it rises as badly as it did last year. Stollen is a German fruit bread, NOT fruitcake. It does have candied citron and orange peel, raisins, currants, and almonds in it, but it is a yeast bread, it is not sweet like a cake, and there is more dough than fruit. My mother started making stollen years ago. I guess I was about 10 years old or so. I don't think it was a tradition in her family, so I don't know what prompted her to start. But now it IS a family tradition, since I and at least one of my sisters makes it. DD isn't much of a baker, so maybe I can pass it on to DGD.

The tree is up but not decorated yet. I should be putting lights on now while I'm waiting for the dough. And I have to close the chickie girls in before it gets too dark to see.

It is now THREE hours later. The stollen dough has NOT doubled in bulk YET. I'll be up till midnight trying to get the stupid things done. Good grief!

Correction

The author of The Emperor's Tomb is Steve Berry, with a B, not Steve Perry. It reads like a bad James Bond story. At least it's going quick.

Recovery, Spread thin, Books

Have plied two good sized skeins of the new BFL/silk blend I'm spinning. It's turning out sorta tweedy when you look at it close up, pale brown from a distance.

Went to fiber guild meeting on Saturday to get away from the invalids - yes, that's plural. DD has been running MIL around to her various doc visits and changing dressings on her leg ulcers. However, DD now has a job that she just started, so I get elected to do that, plus take DH to therapy, plus pick up DGD after school. ACK! We're trying to get a home care nurse in to change MIL's dressings, so that will be one less thing to worry about, and it will save me about 34 miles worth of gas each time.

Just the other day finished reading Jean Auel's new book, The Land of Painted Caves. It's the last of that series. Now working on The Emperor's Tomb by Steve Perry, about the Chinese emperor's tomb with the terra cotta soldiers. It's kinda boring so far, about Chinese politics and two guys vying to be the next premier (or whatever he's called) and the two factions involved. So far the only thing about the tomb is the finding of old original documents from the first dynasty, including original Confucius writings (which have been stolen, of course). If it doesn't get more interesting in a hurry, it's getting canned.