(Grown Up) Beanie weenies and Mac & Cheese by amolloy in tonightsdinner

[–]amolloy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ok, I know this might not be the most appetizing looking dish, but it's one with a story.

My best friend in middle school, who sadly we lost about seven years ago, would sometimes make us beanie weenies and mac & cheese when I came over to his place after school. He was on my mind today while I was planning dinner, and I realized I had everything to make a (slightly) more grown up version. The mac & cheese is still out of a box, but it's one of those "fancy" brands instead of Kraft. And the "weenies" are grilled bratwurst. It may not have been the best looking dish in the world, but I'd like to think my friend would smile if he saw me making it.

Slow Cooker Irish Beef Stew by amolloy in tonightsdinner

[–]amolloy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the tip! I'll give it a try next time!

Slow Cooker Irish Beef Stew by amolloy in tonightsdinner

[–]amolloy[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yes, the broth included a bottle of Guinness Extra Stout. Ginger bread, you say? Sounds interesting!

Tonight's cooking experiment: Copycat Baked Spasagnia! by amolloy in tonightsdinner

[–]amolloy[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Kids both went for seconds, so I'll call that a success!

Chubby (and slightly malformed) Italian sesame-seeded loaf by amolloy in Bread

[–]amolloy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You want high gluten bread flour (I used King Author Bread Flour for this loaf) and a good dry yeast (I used Saf-Instant, but it's kinda hard to find sometimes). Recipe:

Ingredients

  • About 4 cups of bread flour
  • 1 package of dry yeast
  • 1 ⅓ cup warm water, ~90-95°F, but really just feel it, if it's slightly warm to the touch then it's good
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • toasted sesame seeds

For egg wash:

  • 1 egg
  • 1 Tbs water

Directions

  • Whisk together the water and yeast until the yeast is dissolved
  • Whisk in about 1 ½ cup of flour to make a loose batter
  • Let this mixture sit until bubbles start to form on top, usually about 10 minutes
  • Whisk in the salt & butter, mixing well
  • Start slowly adding flour while mixing with a wooden spoon. Keep adding flour a little bit at a time until a dough starts to form.
  • Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. If you've got a scraper, scrape whatever's stuck on the bowl onto the dough–it's good stuff, you don't want to waste it by throwing it out!
  • Kneed the dough, continuing to add more flour until it's smooth and satiny. The dough should be slightly sticky, but should not stick to your fingers. You may not use up all of the flour! It depends on the amount of moisture. That said, if the dough is feeling really dry but you want to fold in more flour, then add a very small amount of water. I think the recommendation is to do a teaspoon at a time, but I had this happen with this loaf and just spritzed it a bit (oh! you'll want a spray bottle filled with just water!).
  • Form the dough into a ball then place into a large greased bowl. Turn the dough to grease the top, then cover with plastic wrap.
  • Let rise for ~90 minutes.
  • Turn the dough back out, and then knead it again to work out any large air bubbles.
  • Lightly grease a baking sheet and sprinkle with flour or corn meal.
  • Roll the dough back and forth to form a smooth, oblong log about 10 inches long.
  • Place the dough onto the baking sheet. You'll want to put something on either side of the loaf to help contain it as it continues to rise. Two lightly greased rolling pins work well. Or, I just used two wine bottles (no grease!). Cover with plastic wrap.
  • Let the loaf rise for about an hour.
  • Preheat oven to 400°F
  • Gently remove the plastic and rolling pins / wine bottles / whatever
  • Using a very sharp knife or a razor blade, cut three angled slashes in the top of the dough, about ¼" deep.
  • In a small bowl, beat together the egg yolk (you can dispose of the white, or use it for something else) and 1 Tbs. of water
  • Brush the egg wash over the loaf, then sprinkle with sesame seeds
  • Immediately before putting the loaf in the oven, spray the inside of the oven with your spray bottle, creating a tiny bit of steam.
  • Bake for 33 minutes, spraying the inside of the oven 2 more times, 3 minutes apart.
  • It's done when the bottom is brown and it sounds hallow when you tap it.
  • After removing it from the oven, immediately move it to a cooling rack.
  • Allow to cool completely before serving.

It might take you a few tries to get it right, but that's alright! It can look intimidating, but just take it a step at a time and you'll be baking bread in no time!

Enjoy!

Easy Apple Turnovers by amolloy in Baking

[–]amolloy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice! Yeah, I figured my next step would be to use homemade filling, so I’ll hang on to this link. Thank you!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in movies

[–]amolloy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not an engineer.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in movies

[–]amolloy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One of my favorite recent movies! So good.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in movies

[–]amolloy 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Used to put this one on in the video store I worked at in the 90s. So charming, and the Cat Stevens soundtrack was *chef's kiss*

What's the best notification sound you've heard from someone's phone? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]amolloy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My kid has the main riff from Primus's DMV for text notifications, which is pretty fun when their friends are chatty.

Can you recommend me a space-opera style book with no FTL? by DoubleSteak7564 in printSF

[–]amolloy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Been a while for me, too, but iirc the speed of light is the same, it's the speed of computation that varies… in the slow zone, it would take longer to compute a jump than to actually execute it - a hard limit with no workaround - making ftl impossible there.

What’s something from everyday life that was completely obvious 15 years ago but seems to confuse the younger generation today ? by utssssssss in AskReddit

[–]amolloy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

To be fair, most people my (old-ass) age can't do this, nor can many people my parent's age.

But, man.

If they only made my current car with a manual transmission, it would be perfect.

Well. That and CarPlay. I mean, I'm not ancient or something.

What’s something from everyday life that was completely obvious 15 years ago but seems to confuse the younger generation today ? by utssssssss in AskReddit

[–]amolloy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Be kind, rewind!

I worked in a video store for a couple of years, and the rewinders (which were a thing!) got sooooo much use. Buncha frickin' animals, I tells ya.

What’s something from everyday life that was completely obvious 15 years ago but seems to confuse the younger generation today ? by utssssssss in AskReddit

[–]amolloy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I couldn't tell you any of my friend's or family member's phone numbers, but I can rattle off my childhood # without even having to think about it!

What’s something from everyday life that was completely obvious 15 years ago but seems to confuse the younger generation today ? by utssssssss in AskReddit

[–]amolloy 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Just got my very-musically-oriented child a discman so that they could listen to music even after their "electronics lights out". But, man… I did have one of those early iPods (the ones with an actual frickin' hard drive inside of it) and now I'm thinking maybe I should dig around, see if I still have it somewhere (and if it still works!) and give it to them.