Yeast Success

I "had" a problem with yeast. If I can blaim my mother (isn't that what kids are supposed to do??) she claims that she only makes hockey pucks and hasn't mastered yeast. My Dad on the other hand makes delicious bread, but after my expierence of learning how to drive (let's just say it involved my Dad telling me that I had run over imaginary bunnies or hit and old lady when I didn't do something right) I wasn't planning on asking him advice on the topic. Yes, he knows what he's doing, but I also do most of my cooking during the day while he's working so not the best time to call with random questions.

Enter my saint of a friend Hillary. I know of at least six separate phone calls where I started the conversation "I have a bread question for you..." I had tried on multiple occaisions to make good bread, pizza dough, rolls all using active dry yeast with no success. Each failure was mildly different and often inconclusive, except that it didn't seem to fully rise. I would not give up.

Here was the problem - learn from my mistakes:
1. I bought yeast in a jar to save money. The envelopes can be stored in the cupboard and as long as you use them by the expiration date they should work fine. The jar needs to be stored in the refridgerator after opening and can be stored for up to 6 months. This was my problem - my jar was open and in the cupboard - good bye activeness.

2. Use warm tap water to proof your yeast. I was trying to get the exact temperature using a thermometer coupled with heating the water in the microwave. All I needed to do was turn the tap water on as hot as possible and then measure.

3. Add a little sugar to the yeast/water mixture. Some recipes called for this and others didn't. According to my baking expert a little sugar just helps it foam.

4. Gently sprinkle the yeast on the water. Do not stir, mix, or dump it in a clump. The yeast with begin to dissolve and froth. I'll let you guess what I did here.

5. Follow the recipe. It's that easy. Once I got the yeast issue figured out I made these delicious oat pan rolls. Candler loved them. Then I froze some of the extras and then used them for a meal. Candler commented "These rolls are good" and then I said "Yeah I made them" and he does a double take "You did?" That's when I know I've done good. I need to do some more experimenting but this pregnant lady can only eat so many carbs and trust me I'm already consuming more than my fair share :-)