My Daily Breads

I’m getting tired of starting entries like this, but I have to start another entry like this:

Sorry for the lack of updates. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is inflamed and throbbing.

My stupid insurance company decided to cut me off from physical therapy a full 6 weeks sooner than my surgeon prescribed. That was a month ago. The doc told me that until this is hammered out and I can resume therapy, there is to be no unnecessary keyboard  gymnastics on my part. Sheesh. What was the argument against universal health coverage again…?

Thankfully though, the mystical effect of Maker’s Mark bourbon combined with a topical diclofenac epolamine patch makes me feel good enough at the moment to risk life and limb (well, an elbow anyway) on a short ego stroke here.

Strangely enough, typing and using a mouse hurts my arm, as does turning a steering wheel, but not much else does. Including cooking. So while I haven’t been writing about it, I’ve nonetheless been churning out some pretty wacky concoctions. Like today’s offering.

In my ongoing quest to prove that any liquid which doesn’t kill yeast can be made into bread, behold “Sujeonggwa Bread” (L) and “Cream of Mushroom Soup Loaf”:

Sujeonggwa is a Korean chilled drink made by simmering cinnamon sticks with ginger slices, then sweetening with honey. NewWifey(tm)  is crazy for it, so there’s almost always a tankard of the stuff in our fridge. This morning I saw we were down to about a cup from the latest batch so I decided to sacrifice it to the Bread Lab. I enhanced the flavor with a swirl of brown sugar, ground cinnamon, ginger powder, and orange zest. Kinda looks like a cinnamon roll, no?

The mushroom soup loaf actually caused a bit of an altercation this morning. The soup was made last night from pan roasted white button mushrooms and a good chicken velouté flavored with brandy and some thyme from our window box. NewWifey(tm) liked it so much I had to mop under her seat after dinner. When she found out I’d used all the leftover soup “…to make a fucking loaf of bread??“, things almost escalated to fisticuffs.

But when she tried it, all was forgiven. It caused more nether region discharge as bread than as soup I think, and that’s saying a lot. I got a pat on the head, and a request for it to be put in regular rotation. I’m thinking it’ll be perfect for the Christmas turkey stuffing this year, also.

Ok, gotta stop torturing my tendons. “Expect me when you see me”, as Gandalf said.

Ciao!