Food is Love: No Knead Hot Rolls

With this foolproof recipe from my good friend Lynn J., there's no need to knead! These rolls turn out perfectly every time -- and you can use the dough for cinnamon rolls. Mmmmmm.

No Knead Hot Rolls
2 pkg. dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup shortening
2 eggs, beaten
6 to 6 1/2 cups flour (I spelled that "flower" at first. That would not work.)
a little vegetable oil

Dissolve yeast in mixing bowl in warm water. Add sugar, salt and about 1/2 of the flour. Add eggs and shortening and beat by mixer two minutes. (You probably do need a mixer with those bread hook dealie-bops.)

Beat in remaining flour gradually.

Grease the top of the dough with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until double in size -- about one hour.

Grease your baking pans. Stir dough down, shape into rolls or two loaves of bread. Put in greased pans. Cover again with damp cloth. Let rise until double, another hour or so.

Take the unsalted butter out of the fridge and let it get soft so you can spread it easily on that scrumptious bread after it bakes. You do have unsalted butter, correct? Surely I've taught you something by now.

Before baking, you can brush the tops with egg whites or milk. Or egg whites and milk. (I keep experimenting with this part. Let me know what you think works best.)

Bake at 400: 10-15 minutes for hot rolls. (It takes a little longer in my oven, but this is what the recipe calls for.)
Bake at 375: 50 minutes for two loaves. (I've never made the loaves, only the rolls, but this is the time Lynn wrote down.)

Stand back so you're not trampled in the stampede for hot bread and butter!

Amuse Amber #14: The perfect video for Food is Love day. I dare you to watch this and not smile. And you'll be doing the dance. Thanks for the link, Bud!

Creative Inspiration: Billy Dead

Here's a wonderful paragraph from Billy Dead by Lisa Reardon. I haven't read the book, but this paragraph completely kicks tush. Listen to the rhythm, the power of repetition, the alliteration, the power of threes. And, on top of that, what she's saying is damned true:

"People lose people. I don't know why we're all so damned careless. Folks lose their kids, men lose their women, even friends get lost if you don't keep an eye out. I look through the windshield at the houses going by. For every person sitting in them houses, watching TV or eating a ham sandwich, there's someone somewhere wondering where and why they lost them."

Amuse Amber #12: I love coffee. I love MahJongg. So playing Cafe MahJongg is a natural!

Creativity Exercise: Twist My Words

I recently wrote a very, very short poem. My writing buddies liked it -- but one suggested that I could have written it as a haiku. You know what? That sounds like a good exercise for you! Remember the haiku rules -- three lines, the first is five syllables, the second is seven syllables, the third is five syllables. 5-7-5.

Post your haiku version or email it to me. You can change the title, whatever. Just use my poem as your starting ground:

After the Affair
The biggest lie
we tell each other
is everything's all right.

Amuse Amber #10: Hey, Amber! This is a creativity exercise day. So we're turning the tables. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to post something that will amuse us! That should keep you busy and out of trouble for a while ...

P.S. Why do people think poetry is autobiographical? Do you think every short story you read is autobiographical? Get your mind out of the gutter, people. I mean, really ...

Creativity Tips: Feet to the Fire

OK, it's April. How's that New Year's resolution coming? Heck, forget resolutions. How are you doing on any goals -- creative or otherwise -- you've set for yourself?

If you're not accomplishing what you want, consider the accountability factor.

My sister Eva and I had been doing great on losing weight and maintaining our weight loss. Then, we stopped the monthly weigh-ins. (Before, we each weighed on the last day of the month. Then, Eva would call me and we'd have to report the results.)

Turns out, that teeny tiny bit of accountability made all the difference in the world. Fortunately, we figured that out before too much weight crept back.

Want to succeed? Set a measurable goal. And have someone hold you accountable!

Amuse Amber #9: Speaking of Eva, and our food issues, here's a link she suggested: Cake Wrecks!

The Peeps Show

Well, I didn't know how to label this one. Is it a Friday Fun feature? Or Food is Love? It will definitely count as entry #8 in our Amuse Amber series! Because she is one of our peeps ...

Enjoy the "Peeps Show" and I'll see you back here Monday!

Gotta Love It

I live in Kansas. I have to share this.

Site Seeing: Your Creative Beast

Several people have pointed me toward Betsy Streeter's "Let Out Your Creative Beast" presentation, and it's great! You might also check out her blog, where you can find a printable beast.

Moving from your beast to your brain, an email from TED yesterday reminded me that I hadn't looked at Jill Bolte Taylor's famous Stroke of Insight talk -- she's a brain scientist who analyzed her own stroke. The presentation is about 18 minutes long and it flies by. I love the part where she's telling herself she doesn't have time for a stroke ...

And I think we'll just consider this entire post part of the Amuse Amber campaign!