Hank Green Samples 50s Food

Came across this video of Hank Green of the Vlog Brothers making and sampling some period-looking (not going to pass judgment) recipes.  Thought I'd post this while I am very very slowly working on the post for the Devil's Food Cake recipe I made last week.

Enjoy!

Bread - Raisin Rolls

It's been almost three and a half months.  Clearly I am neglecting my duties as a blogger.  It's like I've been putting nursing school, staying home with short stuff, and visiting family before cooking the recipes of the Ladies of Zion.  I should probably reexamine my priorities.  Upon finishing my first semester of nursing classes, I intended to do a bunch of recipes and posts, but traveling north, then southwest, and all of the prep and recovery from that hasn't exactly been conducive to doing much extra cooking.  Perhaps I can make an effort to do more cooking and blogging this spring semester.

So now that that is out of the way, let's get on to the bread at hand.  As you can see below, I'm on a page with three recipes for rolls/buns, and a banana loaf.  I did applesauce nut bread previously, so the banana loaf was out.  The lack of directions regarding an ice box was intriguing for the ice box rolls.  I had to ultimately go with the raisin rolls though because despite knowing that Sarah would be unhappy with the choice, making a recipe with no directions at all seemed like it might be a fun project.  I've made enough bread in the past to have a fairly good sense of the process... more or less.

No directions.  What could go wrong?

Preparation

There are immediately a few questions.  The first one is about the yeast.  I'm sure yeast cakes can be found somewhere, but it's not common.  I've got instant yeast, as well as active dry yeast, but no clue how they compare to cake yeast.  Thanks to the magic of the internets, I found someone who does know.  Please meet Father Dominic.  I've only watched the video below, but it looks like he's got quite a few good tips that are worth learning.  I've been making much of our bread for a few years now, and though what I make is decent I know I still have a lot to learn.  Anyway, here is Father Dominic with the lowdown on cake yeast.  Take notes, kids.

Now that I know I can use my active dry yeast, it is time to get our mise en place.

Once again, I'm doing my best to keep my cluttered counter out of the picture.

I debated whether to use butter or shortening instead of the called for lard, but these folks look so happy, I think I made the right choice in pulling the lard out of the freezer.