9.09.2008

Usually Dough, but Sometimes Doh!

The kids can tell you the foods I've made that have flopped... they are, in order:

1. garbage cookies
2. garbage injera
3. garbage bread

Let's start with #1. I bought teff flour awhile ago, thinking that I'd make injera at home. Injera has about 57 steps to it and takes about 3 days to make. My 1st attempt was TERRIBLE. And not only that, but the teff flour is dark brown, and every injera I've seen (even in Ethiopia) has not been that dark. So anyway, I had this teff flour and there was a recipe on the back for peanut butter teff cookies. That sounds good, doesn't it? Ugh. They were dark brown and tasted like cardboard, with a slight peanut butter aftertaste.

#2 was my ill-conceived plan to make sour dough starter and add teff to make it sour enough. Darn the recipes and full speed ahead with nasty injera. It looked right, but tasted wrong, wrong, wrong.

#3 was sour dough "pretzels." The salt was good. I think I killed the yeast or something, because it did not rise properly, but I went ahead and fooled myself and baked it anyway. Hockey pucks, anyone?

Even though I've made lunch and dinner for 100 days, every time a baked good comes out yummy, the children express suprise and say something like "no garbage cookie." I did manage to make a sour dough bread the kids call "Ethiopia bread," so that went fast.

I've been making lots of sour dough things lately. I feel kind of pressured now that I've got the starter started.

8 comments:

Katherine said...

ahh, hockey pucks. Yes, I have had quite a few of those myself!

Nitro Krycerin said...

Good! I'm glad it's not just me!

Katherine said...

Wait'll you make BIG hockey pucks (i.e. loaves). Those are just great. Mine could be registered as lethal weapons!

Anonymous said...

add candy corn...that seems to do the trick!

ABG said...

Chris--I had an Ethiopian friend here teach me to make injera and she has a very easy method. Maybe I can show you sometime? :)

Tim Gibson said...

I'll post this here, since Lee doesn't update his blog much.

Lee, not sure if you remember me, but I remember you from Larkin (Carrie might remember me from band, I played trumpet), and/or 1st Baptist. I was also good friends with Josh Brooks. I'm now the tech director at EV Free in Crystal Lake.

Looks like you guys have your hands full. We (wife, Jen, and I) have a 3 year old girl that is starting to become picky in her eating.

Just wanted to say hi.

Jori said...

If you get the easy injera method you must share!!!!
love, jori

133Gardner said...

Tim, yes, sorry I don't get around to my personal blog as much anymore... go figure. But it's really good to hear from you and see that your still 'local.' Well, as much as I am anyway. :-)

Take care!
Lee