My Food Obsession

Great blog and gorgeous pictures! I'm glad you conquered your fear:@) The rolls look delicious.

Great story. Glad it worked out for ya !!! My fear is making bread bowls, been thinking about it for a long time and still haven't got brave enough th try :(

We are very similar......I also have a fear of fruit pies and bread while I have mastered cakes, cookies, bars, and even candy. I decided this morning before I saw your blog that I want to conquer my fear of making bread. I always see other's beautiful photos and decided this is something I have to try again. I made rolls once time that never rose and turned out to be very dense cooked dough balls. When I make pizz dough, it is always too thick and doughy. I have my eye on "french baguettes" from this site. As soon as I make a trip to the commissary and buy a bag of bread flour, I will be trying this for myself. I have faith that it will work this time. Your rolls look amazing, Dianne!

Fun to read! Enjoyed your blogging and pictures. You will have so much fun with yeast breads! I think of making a yeast bread kinda like nurturing a special pet. It's a relationship. Here is my fear: cooking beef. I am just so worried that it won't be tender and edible! I have a real horror of tough, hard-to-chew slabs of meat, so when I do cook beef, it's ground beef! Maybe someday I will get over this and be able to cook & enjoy a prime rib!

Great job, Dianne! I make my own whole wheat bread every week, but I just make in my bread machine because is easier. I did make before French Baguettes and Clone of Cinnabon from this site, they both turned out excellent and were my first experiences.

I remember making my first loaf of bread when I was 21-I was so thrilled! I did take a picture-like a still life-I was so proud. When married to my second husband I made bread every week. Also raised chickens,rabbits, & did lots of cooking. The DH I have now wanted me to keep working & support my horses myself so I do. I miss being the "queen" of my house, but hope someday to retire & be able to do things more as I want, than always jumping to someone else's schedule.Keep the dreams alive!

Great job! Yeast breads are really easy once you get over the fears. It took me years of trying and failing with them but I've got it down now. My fear is pie crust. Its very scary :(

Isn't it funny how such an old cooking tradition (I mean humans have been making bread almost forever) reduces us to weak-kneed fear. I finally, after too many years to mention, conquered my yeast phobia and have been baking all my bread ever since and now I only regret I waited so long. Now what I doubt I'll ever take on is fondant!

Great job Dianne. I have a bread machine that I utilize for it's dough making capabilities. More often than not, I will stop it at that point and bake away. I have done it the "old school" way and I much prefer it however time is usually the issue...maybe a little fear....but my biggest fear lies with fondant. That terrifies me.

I love baking breads by hand, but I'm on the chubby side so I can't do it too often. My biggest fear is anything that involves a double boiler, like flan or mousse - I tend to make those from mix.

It is interesting reading about everyone's experience with this and also cooking fears others have. I like CookieWeasel's take on this: it is like nuturing a special pet.

great job! i, too, will cook and bake almost anything (the mad scientist comes out when adjusting baking recipes!) sigh, my few attempts at yeast have been a failure. perhaps will borrow sis-in-law's bread machine. good luck, let me know how the cinnamon rolls turn out: the purchased ones are always welcome here (second only to Kringle from Wisconsin)

hi,when making dough of any kind just keep in mind the water you use must be at body temp, keep dough away from drafts,and your fears will soon go away and you will have more fun. when i am making bread this always comes to my mind bread is on of the few things our lord blessed when he was on this earth. may your dough always rise and enjoy

Hello Dianne! I am so glad I found your blog! I, too, am an Iowan now living in the Twin Cities, in a stressful job (bank examiner), with some health issues, who finds relief through cooking and baking. I have struggled with yeast breads also. They just intimidate me and, unlike you, I have not found the guts to give them a try yet. I can, however, help you with the fruit pies bit. My junior year of high school I won the prize for my Apple Pie at the Iowa State Fair. Pies are not nearly as intimidating as yeast breads! There are a few tricks of the trade though. The best pies crusts are made with lard. I know that sounds gross and it has become very hard to find, but it is the KEY to a dream crust. That being said, I personally still use shortening. I also pre-bake my crusts before I put in the filling. This assures the crust is crisp, not soggy. Make sure to remember to use a fork and poke some holes in the bottom of the crust to ensure that air gets in there too. There are a few tools on the market that make pie making a cinch! I have found all at my local bed, bath, and beyond. 1) Thin Aluminum pan. The heavy non-stick pans do not hold the crust in well. Stick to the old fashioned kinds that are like $3. 2) Aluminum ring to put over the edge of the crust to ensure the top of the crust does not get too brown. Use this for pre-baking as well as after you have put the filling in; removing just in the last minutes of baking. 3) Plastic zippered pie crust bag (?). This wonderful invention allows you to just put in one of your crusts [top or bottom], zip up, rolled out with a rolling pin, unzip, place pan upside down over crust, and flip. No mess and it lets you to use less water allowing for a flakier crust! Great invention! 4) Last, for any apple pies, one must get an apple peeler/corer. They make life so much simpler. Half of my time was always spent peeling apples. Not with this baby! It's wonderful. Well, I have used up a lot of my allowed characters and just generally gone on way too long, but I hope some of my comments help you to overcome the fear of fruit pies. Would love to see those as the next fear tackled. Good luck Dianne!

Wow, thanks for all the tips MelMel! I would like to make an apple pie for Thanksgiving this year, so I will definitely use your tips! The problems I always have are the crust being soggy and the filling too runny. Any tips on the runny part? Thanks MelMel, it's nice to hear from a kindred spirit!

Congrats on conquering your fear of yeast breads! I too had that fear and I think I just learned you have to follow instructions to a tee. If it says knead for 8 minutes, you have to knead for 8 minutes. And because my house is either cold or hot, I warm my oven while making the dough, then turn it off and let the dough rise in the warm oven. You'll love the clone of Cinnabon rolls and may I suggest the Fabulous French Loaves. That's the recipe I used to conquer my fear of yeast breads. Happy baking Dianne!