Full Circle

 

Calm before the judging - The judge's tables and books are ready to go!

Today, I'll be at the Stafford County Fairgrounds for the 4-H foods judging. It will be like coming full circle. 

In July 1994, a little pony-tailed, solemn-faced girl sat down for her first 4-H foods judging. For the record, Jill was never that solemn or silent in subsequent years. But neither she or I knew what we were doing. I look at the photo of the judge evaluating her microwave cake and think we should have left it at home. Yes, a microwave food product was a 4-H foods class at the time - believe it or not. 

The building was hot, and the microwave cake was not her finest moment in the foods competition. But, honestly, I think that's what 4-H is all about anyway. It's all about learning and growth. (For the record, parents learn a whole bunch, too!)

By the time she was veteran 4-Her, she was teaching others, and she, too, was leading foods meetings and also serving as a foods superintendent at the county fair.

As a senior in high school, Jill was the state winner for the 4-H Foods and Nutrition project. (She actually met her future husband at the Emerald Banquet state awards ceremony that year, though neither she or Eric remember it.) All that - despite a red ribbon microwave cake in her 1st 4-H foods competition.

The old Quonset hut building on the Stafford County Fairgrounds

I started Kim's County Line in 2010. In my July 14 post that year, I said I would be volunteering in the hot old building at the Stafford County Fairgrounds that day. Both my 4-Hers had already aged out. So I wrote about my "why" for still putting "sweat equity" into the county 4-H program. Here's some of what I wrote:

So why do I – or the multitude of other volunteers – continue to show up year after year – some of us after our 4-Hers have left the nest? For me, the answer is easy. And I suspect it’s the same for most people who volunteer at their county fair – whether it’s in Stafford, Cloud, Harper, Rice, Finney, Haskell or any other fair in Kansas. It’s because we believe in the 4-H program.

I have evidence of the 4-H programs’ power. I grew up as a Pratt County 4-Her. My husband continues to volunteer in Stafford County where he was a 4-Her longer ago than he likes to admit. ... I think 4-H helped shape us into the people we are today - people who care about and work for their community.

Both our children benefited from 4-H – with everything from project knowledge, leadership skills, goal setting and completion, record keeping and social networking long before there was anything like Facebook or Twitter. Our daughter’s career choice as a dietitian is directly related to her long-time participation in the 4-H foods and nutrition project. Our son’s choice as a college public relations major came – in part – because of tours he took while a delegate at the 4-H Global Conference in Kansas City.

I witnessed my children's growth from the time they were 7-year-old, first-year 4-Hers to the time they were confident, committed 4-H veterans.

Equal time: Brent was a Corn Valley 4-Her, too.

Here we are 30 years later. And I'll be at the Stafford County Fairgrounds today. Though I wasn't the foods superintendent for 4-H foods Jill's first year, it wasn't long after that I became one of the department's superintendents and have been ever since.

I was at the fairgrounds yesterday afternoon, setting up the area for foods judging today. And hallelujah, this year the judging will be in the brand new, air-conditioned building. (In reality, if they hadn't moved judging for several years to the Church of Christ basement and the Stafford Recreation Commission, I'm not sure I would still be doing it. I need air-conditioning in my old age!)

The brand-spanking new facility is a wonderful addition to our county. But the reasons for doing the job are the same as back when we were in that stifling-hot old Quonset hut. It's all about the kids and the 4-H program. 

Ironically, Sunday afternoon I was getting photos via text and offering suggestions for 4-H baking for the Shawnee County Fair. Last evening, I got photos of decorated cookies from Kinley, who's entering that category in her upcoming fair. 

The pony-tailed little girl from 1994 has now taken on the role of 4-H mama. We'll be heading to Topeka for Kinley's and Brooke's 4-H fair next week. We are equal opportunity 4-H supporters. 

Young people in 4-H are three times more likely to contribute to their communities than youth not participating in 4-H. 4-Hers all across the nation are empowered to take on the leading issues of their towns, counties and states and make a lasting difference. ... 4-H youth get the hands-on, real-world experience they need to become leaders and to make positive differences in their communities.

"The 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development"

 from Tufts University 

 Good luck to Stafford County 4-Hers this week ... and to other 4-Hers across the state who are sharing their hard work with the public this week. Come eat at the concession stand in air-conditioned comfort:

 

Pratt - my home county - also has its fair this week. If you're near a county fair, I encourage you to go and support the kids and your community!

Over the (Crescent) Moon

My bread baking skills were slow to evolve. As a Pratt County 4-Her, I was lucky if my yeast bread entry earned a red ribbon. And, back in my day, 4-H judges didn't mind handing out white ribbons either. I certainly got my share of those in the yeast bread department.

I learned more as the 4-H parent than I did as the 4-Her. When Jill and her friend, Holly, got interested in yeast breads, my personal education began in earnest.

Pretzels provided their first foray into the world of yeast breads. They gave a demonstration called Fit To Be Tied for county 4-H club day and an enterprise was born. Their purple-ribbon talk earned them the right to give the demonstration at regional club days and at the Kansas State Fair. Then they sold pretzels - hundreds of them - at Stafford's Oktoberfest. (Jill's 4-H book says each girl made around 300 giant pretzels.) It was a learning experience for all of us - for Jill and Holly and for me and Tami, Holly's mom. (I recommend pretzel making as a first step for beginning 4-H cooks who want to try yeast breads.)

The year after the pretzel demonstration, they decided to try their hand at shaping yeast dough into rolls and gave another talked called Shape Up! Holly mastered the more complicated rosettes and twisted braids. Jill and I were better at crescent rolls.

From Jill's 4-H Foods and Nutrition story that year:
We showed how to make cloverleaf, crescent, Parkerhouse and rosette rolls. We made somewhere in the neighborhood of 864 homemade dinner rolls while we practiced for county and regional club days, made rolls for our families and prepared entries for the county fair.

That's a lot of rolls. But all of us - the 4-Hers AND the moms - got better at yeast bread baking. What was the secret? Practice. If you only bake yeast bread once a year for the county fair, you're not going to become a master at it.

I'm still not a master at it, but I have become my family's bread baker for the holidays. I still prefer making crescent rolls, and I have some step-by-step photos to help you conquer fear of yeast roll shaping, plus other links for recipes and videos.

Because of preferences for some of the extended family, I make some white rolls (and that's what is pictured in the step-by-step photos). But for better nutrition, use at least half whole wheat flour.  You can use hard red winter wheat flour. Now there is also white winter wheat flour available, which is often more appealing to white bread fans.

A little investment of time and effort will have your holiday guests over the (crescent) moon when you serve them homemade rolls.

Classic Crescent Rolls

2 pkg. dry yeast
2 1/4 cups warm water (105 - 115 degrees)
2/3 cup nonfat dry milk
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup margarine, melted
2 tsp. salt
3 cups whole wheat or white whole wheat flour
3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add dry milk, honey, margarine and salt. Stir well. Using a heavy-duty stand mixer, beat in whole wheat flour until well blended. Let the batter rest for 5 minutes to allow the whole wheat flour to absorb moisture. (If you do this, you won't have to add as much additional flour and you'll have a lighter dough, so a little patience is warranted here!)

Add 3 cups of all-purpose flour and use a dough hook on the mixer to incorporate the flour. After it has been mixing for awhile, add additional flour, a little at a time, until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl. Using the dough hook, knead the dough mechanically for 4 to 7 minutes.

Turn out onto very lightly floured surface and knead for just a few more minutes until smooth and elastic. Take care to not add more flour than is needed. (If you don't have a heavy-duty stand mixer, you may knead by hand for 8 to 10 minutes.)

Place dough in a lightly-greased bowl, turning it over once to allow the dough to have a little of the oil (or cooking spray) on its surface. (If a skin forms on the dough, it hampers its stretch and it may cause streaks in the finished bread.) Cover the bowl with a lightly dampened tea towel while the dough rises.

Allow to rise in a warm place (80 to 82 degrees) until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. To test dough for doubled bulk, press two fingers lightly and quickly about 1/2 inch into dough. If the dent remains, the dough is doubled.

Punch down and turn onto a board for shaping. Do NOT have additional flour on your board. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes before shaping. For crescent rolls, use a knife to divide the dough into four equal pieces; you want to cut the dough, rather than tearing it. Roll 1/4 of the dough into a 12-inch circle, about 1/4-inch thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut the circle into 8 equal parts. Pick up each triangle at the wide edge and roll up tightly. Pinch the point to prevent unrolling and lay it point side down on a lightly greased baking sheet. Curve ends of each roll on baking sheet to make the crescent shape. Repeat for each of the 4 parts of the dough, making a total of 32 rolls.

Cover the rolls and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 to 12 minutes or until light, golden brown. Turn out onto cooling rack. Brush hot rolls with butter, if desired. (A note to 4-H bakers: Don't put the butter on your hot rolls for the fair. Just use that for rolls for home use!)

Roll shaping 101 via photos:

This is how the dough looks after it has doubled in bulk after about 1 hour.

Turn the dough out onto a NON-floured board. I never add more flour at this stage as it will cause streaks in the finished dough. If you've incorporated the right amount of flour when you were mixing, you don't need more flour.

Divide the dough into four equal parts, using a knife. Don't tear the dough - cut it.

Roll each 1/4 portion into a 12-inch circle using a rolling pin. It will make it about 1/4-inch thick.

Cut each into 8 equal parts using a pizza cutter or knife. (I like a pizza cutter.)

Starting at the wide end, roll toward the point, keeping the roll as tight as you can. Tuck the point under the roll and squeeze it so that the point won't come undone as it rises. Curve the roll toward the center to form the crescent shape.

After the rolls have risen for another 45 minutes to 1 hour, they'll look puffed and ready to go. If you look at the close up photo above, you can see at the curve how the dough has stretched and risen.

Bake at 400 degrees for 8 to 12 minutes. Keep a close watch. You know your oven. You don't want to go to all this work and then burn them in the end!

For more information about shaping (like shaping into these pan rolls), go to Recipe Tips: Shaping Rolls.

Want other ideas and recipes? Winter is the perfect time of year for experimenting with yeast breads and yeast rolls. You won't mind heating up the house when the winter winds are blowing outside. 

Here are some links for you to explore the world of bread baking:

Kansas Wheat

America's Bread Basket (includes recipes from the National Festival of Breads)

Wheat Foods Council

Homemaking Association and its link to videos that show step-by-step the how-tos of making bread and rolls.