HERITAGE RECIPE: Sweet Buns

Well, I am pretty sure I messed up this recipe. I debated even posting this, but these were a lot of work. And honestly, they tasted good--I just think I did something wrong because they didn't rise like you would expect of a yeast bread.

This recipe looked interesting to me because of the note on the bottom: "Important: Serve buns with sliced bologna." I'm used to seeing things like, "serve with rice", or "serve over pasta" or thing like that. The bologna was pretty specific and atypical, so I was intrigued!

(As I do with all of the heritage recipes, I typed out the recipe and followed the instructions exactly as-written. Make sure you see my notes after the recipe.)

This recipe was submitted to the Rockwood, Michigan Area Historical Society by Marcella Rapai--it was passed down from her mother, Dora Gaynier, who got it from her mother, Stella Bodenmiller. Stella was born in 1875 and passed away at age 87. She had ELEVEN children; also, 41 grandchildren, 74 great-grandchildren, and 8 great-great-grandchildren at the time she died. I feel like I did a great disservice by messing up this recipe! Haha.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Sweet Buns

1 c. milk, scalded and cooled
1 cake yeast
1 T. sugar
1/2 c. mashed potatoes
4-1/2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg

Add yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar to cooled milk. Mix mashed potatoes and 2 cups flour to yeast mixture. Cover and let rise 1/2 hour in a warm place. Blend salt, sugar, shortening and egg. Then add to the yeast mixture and the remaining 2-1/2 cups flour. Knead. Let rise in a warm place, covered, for 2 hours. Grease a cookie sheet and form the dough into 2 or 2-1/2 inch balls and slightly flatten. Let rise again for 1-1/2 hours in warm place. Before baking, rub top of bun with milk and sprinkle a little sugar on top. Bake at 400 F about 20 minutes or until brown. When baked, size will be of a nice hamburger bun. Important: Serve buns with sliced bologna.

My notes:

First, I'd never used scalded milk before, so I had to look that up. In older recipes, before milk was pasteurized, scalding the milk (cooking on the stove until it just starts to steam) killed bacteria. This is likely the reason for the above recipe calling for scalded milk. However, I also read this:

"In bread making, scalding the milk serves a more scientific purpose. The whey protein in milk can weaken gluten and prevent the dough from rising properly. Scalding the milk deactivates the protein so this doesn’t happen." (source)

I scalded the milk and let it cool--it was about room temperature, maybe a little warmer, when I moved on with the recipe.

I'd heard of a cake of yeast before, I didn't know how much yeast that meant. When I googled it, I found that a "cake" was the same as a packet (2-1/4 teaspoons).

For the mashed potatoes, I wasn't sure if I should use just potatoes (cooked and mashed) or "mashed potatoes" (meaning with milk, butter, and salt). After cooking the potatoes and mashing them, I realized that I would have to add something because they were really dry and crumbly. I just mixed in enough milk and butter to make them look like typical mashed potatoes. I let those cool in the fridge.

The other ingredients are self-explanatory.

I've made bread plenty of times, so I know what dough looks like when it rises... and this just wasn't happening. It said to let it rise in a "warm place", and my house wasn't exactly warm (I didn't have the heat on, and the temp was about 64 degrees). It's also possible that I didn't give it enough time to rise--but I'm almost positive I did. I set the stove timer each time I did one of the steps, but I forgot to set it for the last part. Still, the dough didn't really change size at all.

Per the recipe, I rubbed a little milk on them and sprinkled with sugar before baking. When I pulled them out of the oven, the tops didn't really brown, but the bottom looked burned. I was SO bummed! I should have done two batches so that if I burned the first, I could try to salvage the second.

Because the dough didn't rise, the buns came out only slightly bigger than when they went into the oven... but nowhere near the size of a "nice hamburger bun". They were much denser than I expected, too.

When I tasted one, however, it was delicious! I even ate the burned bottom and it wasn't bad--I think it looked worse than it was because the sugar I'd sprinkled had caramelized on the bottom of the pan.

Anyway, I still wanted to try them with bologna. I wasn't sure if I should use cold bologna or if I should fry it (I've never had fried bologna, but I know that people eat it that way). I tasted it both ways, and I think the fried bologna is better. (The only way I ever ate bologna as a kid was spread with ketchup and rolled up--I would exclaim how gross that sounds, but honestly, it's kind of nostalgic! Haha.) The buns were much smaller than the slices of bologna, so I cut the bologna into quarters and layered it on the buns.

I can definitely see why the recipes says to serve with bologna--it was really good! The saltiness of the bologna went perfectly with the sweet buns. I didn't add any condiments or anything--just the bologna on the (sliced) bun. Maybe it's because the buns were so dense, but these were SUPER filling. They were the size of sliders, and I'd planned to eat three, but I could only finish two.

I'm going to try to make these buns again and see if I can get them to rise how they are supposed to. I read a little about how bread recipes with a lot of sugar need more yeast--so maybe I'll try adding more yeast. But still, if this recipe has been around for 150 years, I imagine it's probably already perfected. I may have just messed something up and didn't realize it.

If any of you make the recipe, please let me know how it turned out and if the dough rose like it was supposed to!

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'Rescued' is the Best Breed!

I was struggling this morning about what to post today because I haven't taken more than a couple of photos this week (and I usually post "Friday Night Photos" on Fridays). Then I saw that today is "National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day"--and I thought I would just bombard the post with photos of Joey, our shelter-rescue dog.

Jerry and I went to the local animal shelter (a.k.a. "the pound") on February 3, 2015--and we left that day with a 1-1/2 year old (estimated age) labrador-chow chow mix. In cutesy terms, that's a "chabrador" or "chowbrador". We had no idea just how much he would change our lives!

We wanted our boys to grow up with a dog and they were at a good age for it (9 and 10 years old). We named him Joey (after Joey Tribiani, to stick with the 'Friends' theme for our pets' names). Joey is truly the BEST dog--he loves to be around his people. He is fantastic with the kids and with our cats (the cats pretty much own him--poor dog!). My parents love to dog sit and my sister said if we ever want to re-home him (we would never!) she would take him in a heartbeat. He is an all-around well-behaved dog and we couldn't have wished for anything better.

When people are thinking of getting a pet, I always suggest checking out the animal shelters. There are so many dogs and cats that need homes--it is heartbreaking to think of all of the unwanted animals waiting for homes.

Out of the 60 million dogs and 75 million cats that are owned in the United States, only 10-20% of them were adopted from a shelter. Here are some more interesting facts about shelter pets (source):

Approximately 8-12 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year and approximately 5-9 million are euthanized (60% of dogs and 70% of cats). 

Less than 2% of cats and only 15-20% of dogs are returned to their owners.

25% of dogs that enter local shelters are purebred.

Only 10% of the animals received by shelters have been spayed or neutered. 75% of owned pets are neutered.

It is sobering to hear that 6 out of 10 dogs and 7 out of 10 cats are euthanized every year in shelters. Just because these animals are in a shelter doesn't mean there is something "wrong" with them--there are lots of reasons that pets wind up in the shelter. When I think that Joey could have wound up euthanized, it breaks my heart--he is a fantastic pet!

Clearly, I am very passionate about shelter pets. (My cats did not come from the "shelter", which is why I'm making this post about Joey; Phoebe and Estelle were strays that people were trying to find homes for, and Chick and Duck came from an animal rescue.) I just hope that if you're looking for a pet, you'll check out the shelters first. When you adopt from a shelter, you're saving TWO animals--the pet that you adopt, AND the animal that now has a spot in the shelter.

While I am at it, just a quick fact about spaying/neutering... a female cat can have about 180 kittens in her lifetime. And those kittens can reproduce... and those kittens can reproduce... and so on. In 7 years, that ONE cat and her offspring can total 420,000 cats. (source) Isn't that insane?! So by spaying or neutering your cat, you could be saving hundreds of thousands of cats from winding up in a shelter one day. A quick google search or checking with your local animal shelter can provide you with low-cost spaying and neutering options. The animal shelter is HAPPY to help, because they don't want pets to wind up in the shelter either.

Okay, so on to the fun stuff... pictures of Joey throughout the last six years. Can you believe it's been that long since we adopted him?!

This last photo is a before and after--the day we adopted him and then about six months later...

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COVID Diaries: A Blessing in Disguise

I have an interesting guest post to share today as part of the COVID Diaries series. This series is to get a glimpse into people's lives over the past year and how the virus has had a drastic effect on them.

This one is a little different from the previous ones I've shared--it was actually a COVID-19 diagnosis that ultimately saved a woman's life. As horrible as the virus is, it's nice to read a positive outcome. This post is written by Anita, with her mom's and sisters' permission.

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My mother has always been very healthy despite not keeping up with regular screenings like mammograms and pap tests. She was 70 years old before she ever had a colonoscopy, and even then, she only did so because my sisters and I pestered her about it. The colonoscopy came back clear with no issues.

This is my mom preparing food for my brother's wedding

In October of 2020, she was diagnosed with COVID-19, displaying very mild symptoms other than some digestive issues. We heard that this was unusual but not unheard of with COVID-19. She began to get a lot of pain in her abdomen and finally went to Urgent Care where they sent her to the hospital with a suspected bowel obstruction.

After being sent home, she returned because she was still experiencing intense pain. The doctors ended up performing emergency surgery for a bowel obstruction--and she was given a startling diagnosis of colon cancer and subsequently had a colostomy!

We were all understandably shocked and scared. After the surgery, Mom spent many days in the ICU where only one of my sisters could visit (she had already had COVID-19 previously, so had a natural immunity). Prior to getting COVID-19, my mother had no issues that would have caused her to suspect she had colon cancer and her colonoscopy was clear only eight years before. [Guidelines specify that people who aren't at high risk for colon cancer should have a screening every 10 years.]

Because of her cancer diagnosis, she decided to get genetic testing done--and found out that she carries the BRCA gene mutation. This mutation carries a higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers. She learned that because she carries it, her four daughters have a 50% change of carrying the gene mutation as well.

My three sisters and I decided to have genetic testing done. My youngest sister tested positive for the BRCA gene mutation so she chose to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed to lessen her chances of getting ovarian cancer. She and our mother are also having more frequent mammograms and breast MRI's to keep tabs on their breast health.

Sisters--I'm driving; my youngest sister is the one taking the selfie

My genetic test results came back negative for the BRCA mutation and my other two sisters are still awaiting their results. Mom is doing very well now and will soon finish her chemotherapy treatments; she has another surgery scheduled in June to reverse the colostomy and have her ovaries and tubes removed.

Mom admitted to me that she did not plan to ever get another colonoscopy since her first and only one was clear and she enjoys great health. Had she not gotten COVID-19 and developed digestive issues from it, it's very likely the colon cancer would have gone undiagnosed until possibly too late for treatment.

She also would not have gotten the genetic testing. In that case, my youngest sister would not have known she carries the BRCA gene mutation, which allowed her to take steps to greatly lesson her cancer risk. We all have daughters and feel it's also important to their health to be aware of any genetic issues they could inherit. 

As terrible as COVID-19 can be, I am actually thankful that my mother contracted it so these underlying conditions could be found and dealt with. I am a firm believer that "all things work together for good" and that God had his hand on my family through this pandemic. None of us will be skipping future colonoscopies or mammograms. These are simple procedures with minimal discomfort that can save lives.  

My sisters and I are very close and have many fun adventures together and with our mother.  I'm so grateful that we are taking care of our health so we can continue sharing our lives for many years to come.

My sisters and me with our parents

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If any of you have been affected by COVID-19 in some way (whether you work with COVID patients or became severely ill, or your job has suffered significantly because of it, etc.) and you're interested in sharing your story, please send me an email! I think reading these stories is eye-opening and it allows us to see how this virus has affected people all over the world. You can email me at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com for a possible guest post.

Anita, thanks so much for sharing--I'm so happy that your mom is doing well! It's great that your family was able to discover all of this early-on.

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Change of Summer Plans

I wrote recently about taking a couple of college classes this summer to finish a degree... not for any reason other than to just have it completed, because I am only two credit hours shy of an associate degree. I've been in contact with the school's financial aid advisor because of the Michigan Reconnect program--the program is for people 25 and older, who have not earned a degree and want to return to college, they can attend their county's community college tuition-free to earn a degree.

When I read the guidelines, it said you have to take a minimum of 6 credit hours per semester for the scholarship, so I registered for two (3 credit hour) classes this summer. I just picked two classes that sounded interesting to me.

Since then, however, the financial aid advisor called me and said that there was going to be a problem with the MI Reconnect scholarship. Apparently, since I only need two credit hours, I'm not eligible because I have to take six credit hours of classes--but since I don't actually *need* that extra class to graduate, the scholarship won't cover any of it. I happen to fall into this margin that isn't really accounted for.

However, I learned something really interesting that is making me rethink this whole thing...

The advisor said that if I want to change programs of study (right now, they just have me listed as a general "Associate of Science" degree), I can take all the classes required to fill that degree--with the MI Reconnect scholarship. So, she said that if I changed my program to "Accounting" for example, I could take all of the classes required to get an associate degree in accounting. That's a huge game-changer! I may not want to do that at all, but it's something to think about for sure. Now, there are several options:

If I was to just take a single class to get my degree, the door for the MI Reconnect scholarship is closed. The advisor said that if the single class is all I want to do, just to finish out the degree, she could get me a grant or scholarship to cover the cost of the class and the books. That's option one.

I could choose a new program of study, and then take the classes needed (tuition-free) as long as I take six credit hours per semester--option two. The problem with this is that I have no idea what program I'd want to do. The community college in my county doesn't offer any programs that I am very interested in (it's known for its nursing program, but I definitely don't want to do that).

Option three: I could choose an out-of-county community college that has a program I am interested in, but the scholarship wouldn't cover all of the tuition--it would only cover about half of it. This is somewhat interesting to me, because there is a college in Flint, Michigan that has a program for an autopsy assistant--something that I would be very into. (When I was in high school I wanted to become a forensic pathologist, but I didn't want to go through all of the schooling--you need to go through medical school.) An autopsy assistant works with a forensic pathologist. This would be a positive because if I actually choose to use the degree, it would be something that I'm really interested in.

Option four: I could do nothing. I'm totally fine without having a degree. The only reason I even looked into it was because I happened to notice that I was only two credits shy of an associate degree.

College is super expensive, so if I had to pay for all of it out-of-pocket, I wouldn't want to do it. But I feel like this Michigan Reconnect scholarship is too good of an opportunity to pass up. And even if I don't plan to use the degree, I really think that I would like taking classes and learning new things--especially if it's a topic I'm interested in.

Just for the heck of it, I had my transcripts from EMU and my community college sent to the college in Flint. I'll see exactly what it would cost me out-of-pocket, and if it's reasonable, I'd like to do it. (It's an hour and a half away, which is a long commute, so I'll have to see what the class schedules are like as well.)

In the meantime, though, I dropped the two summer classes I'd registered for so that I can figure out what I want to do. I wish my local college had a program I was interested in because that would make it easy to decide. But, I'm already twice the age of 95% of the students there, so if I should wait a couple of months--or even a year--to decide, it's not going to make any difference! Haha.

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