The Beauty Of Simple Changes

Our walk-in closet is pretty narrow and frequently I've wanted a chair or some sort of flat surface to set things on when I just have a quick second to drop something off in there. I know I should just immediately put them away, I've certainly talked about that enough lately. But sometimes I feel like it's okay to set down a fresh stack of laundry that I'll put away later. I have also struggled to figure out a space for clothes that eventually need to get to the laundry room and a place to put my sleeping clothes.

I often end up stacking this stuff on top of the shoe rack, which is the perfect height, but then I have stuff sitting on top of (aka crushing) my favorite pairs of shoes on the top shelf. This has been bothering me for a while and recently I came up with the easiest, most ridiculous solution. On the top of the shoe rack are three pairs of shoes. There are two that I really like having on that shelf and the third pair could go anywhere on the rack.

I was dropping off some laundry and I thought, "This is a little ridiculous. Why don't I just move one pair of shoes off this shelf level and then move my two favorite pairs closer to the wall and leave a nice space here for me to put things?!" I was a little stunned at how such a simple change could totally rock my existence. I kind of wanted to smack myself for not thinking of this sooner. As I walked back upstairs from our room I was on fire to find more things I could do to make life easier.

When I have these moments where a simple solution makes everything so much better I wonder how many other frustrations I could solve and simplify so easily. Sometimes we get so stuck in how things are set up in our homes that we forget we can change them. I am all about making needed changes in this house because there is no reason to be frustrated at something that isn't working well when it can be changed.

I have done this with drawers and cupboards in the kitchen. Why have things you don't use often in the best drawers and why be annoyed at the unnecessary efforts we often expend to get things that are stored in the most practical places. I've evolved storage in a lot of ways as we go along. I also want to keep evolving our linen closet, pantry and tool storage spaces to make them work best for us. It's a never ending process I think because things continue to evolve with the family.

I feel like this needs to be something that I keep at the forefront of the mind all the time, at least a lot more often. So many of these changes can be made in minutes...seriously how long did it take me to move my shoes over. That took me less than 30 seconds! How many more challenges can I solve in our home with such simple efforts. I think there are a lot. I just need to be paying better attention. 

Pin Test #28: Yummy Healthy Easy's 30 Minute Homemade Dinner Rolls

This Pin Test is one of the comedy of errors versions of Pin Tests. I tested Yummy Healthy Easy's 30 Minute Homemade Dinner Rolls. I had a few mishaps along the way. But in the end, hot homemade rolls are hot homemade rolls, right? I tried this recipe along with a nice Beefy Tomato Soup (Pin Test #29) that I will share with you soon. It was the perfect meal for a cold, snowy, late April Saturday.

I tried my best. I'll do better next time.

I think I've mentioned a few times that my breadmaking life has been tarnished by reports when I was growing up about how hard it is to work with yeast. I don't really even know where I was hearing this but it wasn't from my own family, I know that. For some reason I've just had a complex about baking with yeast.

I shouldn't have listened because it's really not that hard. But because of all the negative comments I have been avoiding using yeast pretty much my entire life. Which is a little crazy considering my mother is an avid homemade bread maker. This all started after I'd left home mostly, so I really missed out on the tutoring I could've gotten from her had I still been living at home.

But it's never to late to start baking with yeast and I've done it a few times over the past couple of months and things have gone well. I think my bigger challenges come in shaping and managing the dough once it's all mixed together. (see appearance of my rolls above)

Saturday when I made these rolls, it was a cold rainy/snowy day and it was chilly in the house so I felt like I needed a decent amount of additional warmth for raising the dough. I kept it on the stovetop near my pot of soup, thinking it might get a little warmth from there - it wasn't much but it helped.

My first misstep was that while the yeast was dissolving with the warm water and sugar I accidentally banged the bowl and sent it sliding across the counter a bit. I think that broke up my yeast a bit because it lost that smooth, expanding texture it gets when it's left alone. I let it sit for a while longer and finally just decided to go forward with the dough. It did rise a bit more but never looked as big, round and fluffy as it has usually.

Once I got the dough combined - and I used the dough hook on my KitchenAid mixer for the first time - it didn't really get the consistency I hoped for. Maybe I should have kneaded it more but I was afraid to damage the yeast anymore at this point.

Then I neglected to follow the recipe. It says to immediately divide the dough into rolls, put them in the pan and let them rise again for 15-20 minutes. But I missed that and left it in the bowl with a warm towel on top just hoping it would rise. It did, but still didn't look all that great. Realizing now that I had not divided the dough immediately as I should have, I did that and put the rolls in the greased  pan and let them rise for another 20 minutes. There was life to the dough, so even though they didn't look as good at I had hoped I could tell at this point that they would cook up pretty well. Might not be light and flaky but would definitely be edible for dinner.

I need to work on my roll forming skills. The sizes weren't uniform and I struggled to get a pretty texture across the top. I have watched my mom, aunts and other relatives work simple looking magic to make beautiful rolls. Clearly I need more practice. I should also ask my mom for her roll recipe some time.

So I baked them for about 18 minutes until they were golden brown on top. Then I brushed them with butter while they were still hot. We served them warm and enjoyed them with butter, jams and honey at the table. I take it totally as my own responsibility as to how they turned out texture-wise. They were a little heavy in texture a little bit biscuit-like, but flaky and tasty anyway. They could have been lighter and prettier but we ate them all the same and quite enjoyed them. Next time I'll do things a little better but this was a great first try and a very quick and easy recipe.